The Last Straw
by raspberry dreams
Summary: Attacked, Potioned and Cursed? No thanks! Voldemort's death and the end of the war doesn't end the bigotry of wizarding Britain. It doesn't end the danger to Harry either and finally he's had enough. Leaving in search of a place he can just be himself he finds a happiness he'd barely dared to dream of. Mpreg.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or Harry Potter or any of their characters.

Harry said a cheerful goodnight to Ron and Hermione as he left the pub. They caught up every Friday night and had taken to frequenting muggle pubs to avoid the attention of overly enthusiastic fans and any as yet unidentified death eaters and unmarked supporters. As they had been successful so far Harry wasn't paying attention to his surroundings as he walked home, he'd had far too much to drink to feel confident in his ability to apparate.

His first indication of trouble came as he felt a sudden pain in his crotch and lower abdomen. As he fell to his knees in agony he was dimly aware of the sound of apparition. He pulled out his wand and looked in the direction of the noise but the ally was empty. Realising that the pain in his groin was caused by spell damage beyond his ability to heal in his inebriated state, he attempted to apparate to St Mungo's. Thank goodness he made it in one piece.

Taking rare advantage of his fame he was quickly transferred to a private room and attended by the head healer. They numbed the agonising pain and ran some diagnostic charms frowning at the results and calling in a second healer who cast more charms without stopping to explain what was going on.

"Enough" Harry said tersely as the numbing charms started to wear off "What was the curse?"

"Drink this pain reliever. From your scan results we've been able to determine the spell you were hit with. It's not really a curse. It is a medical spell which is normally only used in American fertility clinics on request." the healer explained regretfully handing over a strong potion for the pain. "I've never seen it used in an attack though the Americans generally would not use it without very strong pain relief potions or dreamless sleep or both because it is quite painful, however the pain should only last 72 hours" the healer explained.

"It makes a very effective attack spell" Harry said dryly. "It very nearly incapacitated me. I don't know that I could have stopped him if he'd tried to curse me again. So it won't actually be illegal" Harry sighed. "What does it do?"

"The spell itself isn't illegal though it is illegal to cast on a wizard without their consent. It is one of a class of spells that we must certify the patient is not under the influence of any controlling spells or potions before we accept their consent in a magical contract. The spell is intended to allow a gay man to bear a child with his male partner. It establishes a womb which is the cause of the stomach pain you are now feeling. Unfortunately it works at the cost of the man's ability to impregnate a woman" the healer explained.

"Can the spell be reversed?" Harry asked in alarm.

The healer sighed sadly, "I'm afraid the spell is only partially reversible, we can remove the uterus and prevent you from being able to be impregnated but we cannot restore traditional male fertility. I wouldn't suggest you do this Lord Potter-Black as it would make you unable to produce an heir and therefore prevent you from being eligible to hold your lordships if there are any other male heirs."

Harry nodded "That means those other potential heirs would be the most likely suspects to have done this though from what you've said they're unlikely to have come across the spell. Is there any way to prove who cast the spell?"

"Yes we've identified the magical signature as the work of former Healer Davis, he was disbarred from the healer's guild several years ago for using experimental treatments on muggleborns in cases when there was an already proven effective treatment for their conditions. I'm surprised he knew this spell though it's very rarely used here in England because homosexuality is not considered acceptable, especially in the pureblood circles."

"So you're saying that to have a child I would have to have a male lover, but that we wouldn't be accepted in polite society if I did?" Harry said running his hands through his already wild hair.

"Not exactly, if you had homosexual tendencies you could of course do that though I'd advise leaving Britain is you choose this option, otherwise we could use a procedure similar to the muggle artificial insemination. Now your visit here will be kept confidential. In fact I will give you the file and all the paperwork involved in this visit to keep so that you can guarantee there will be no leaks from St Mungo's. What I would suggest if you want my advice is that you marry a witch from a good home, preferably one with a brother, get that brother to impregnate you through a procedure here at St Mungo's or in America where this spell is more widely used, and then take a year's honeymoon to travel the world, to hide your pregnancy. That or move to Australia or America where it's acceptable to marry a wizard. It would also be possible in some countries to adopt a child and complete a blood adoption ritual. It is considered dark magic here in Britain but is still widely practiced in Eastern Europe. There are a couple of magical lines that wouldn't accept a blood adopted heir though and if there are other heirs with a good claim then it could end up being decided by the Wizengamot. Most lines also wouldn't accept an illegitimate heir either so it would be necessary to spell everyone involved to secrecy" The healer explained his options fully.

"I'm engaged to Ginny Weasley" Harry replied.

The healer nodded. "An excellent choice, I'm sure one of her brothers would be prepared to help and there would be no reason to question a quick pregnancy from a witch in that line. Remember that you don't have to actually have sex with the wizard. This is my private floo call contact. I would be happy to complete the procedure for you. The other thing to remember when looking for a donor if none of the Weasleys are prepared to assist you is that it must be a wizard, and the essence must be willingly provided and willingly received. You cannot be impregnated through rape, though I'd be mindful of the risk of such an attack as whoever organised the spell to be cast may not be aware of that limitation, and you cannot be impregnated by a muggle, or a squib unless of course he happens to be your soul mate which is almost unheard of."

"So can I go?" Harry asked.

"Normally we would keep you here on regular pain potions for the next 72 hours" the healer said doubtfully.

"I can't stay here 72 hours, the press will find me. I want to keep this situation private if at all possible" Harry protested.

"I assure you St Mungo's takes its patient's confidentiality very seriously" The healer said offended.

"And yet there are frequent breaches of that confidentiality in 'The Daily Prophet'" Harry said dryly stepping towards the door and drawing his wand. "I will need a privacy oath from both of you not to mention why I was here tonight."

"I assure you..."

"I will Obliviate you if you would prefer" Harry said pointing his wand at the healer steadily.

"You can't do that!" the healer protested reaching or his own wand.

"I'm a fully trained auror and I assure you I can if I deem it necessary" Harry said seriously.

Both healers reluctantly gave the oath as dictated by Harry.

"Right then anything else I need to know before I go?" Harry asked getting dressed.

"Yes well..." The healer gathered up several potions and handed them to Harry. "Take one of these every four hours and the dreamless sleep once per day. No more than that, and try to do as little magic as possible. Absolutely no apparating. And it's important that as little magic as possible is performed on your body. Do not for example have somebody spell you to sleep or stun you. And for heaven sake avoid getting in another duel."

Harry pocketed the potions and case notes from the visit and thanked the healer handing them each a stack of galleons. "Please don't consider this to be a bribe it's not, but because you have no record of treating me you cannot be paid for it through official channels" he tried to explain.

The healers smiled, thanking Harry for his honesty and thoughtful generosity before escorting him to the staff floo to avoid attention.

Harry floo'd to Grimmauld place as the most secure possible destination and went to his room triggering the heavy privacy and locking wards to lock down the house preventing all entry that had been unused since soon after the fall of Voldemort. He fell onto the bed and finally gave in to the pain he was feeling.

The healer was correct the pain over the next 70 hours was excruciating Harry eventually gave in and drank a dreamless sleep potion collapsing on the bed. He awoke on the fourth day feeling physically fine but still emotionally reeling. He'd always dreamed of the day he would have a family of his own and now the likelihood of it happening seemed remote. The Weasleys for all their virtues were still a pure blood family and the British wizarding world's general attitude to relationships, sex and alternate lifestyles matched those of the muggle Victorian era. At least wizards weren't sentenced to death for homosexuality but most family lines had clauses that prevented homosexual wizards from inheriting the headship of the family. And homosexual wizards were not allowed custody of children in Britain, even their own if they had any. Harry made a note to go to Gringotts once he recovered to check on the Potter and Black family inheritance laws, and all the other families he was head of as well though they didn't matter as much. It wasn't so much the money that concerned him, Harry would be devastated if this curse deprived him of his family legacy.

Harry also tried to make a list of all those who had the motive and opportunity to attack him. All of the death eaters and their families of course and the various sympathisers that hadn't yet been brought to justice though that was more difficult as he was sure they hadn't all been identified. The ones with the most motive was of course Draco Malfoy and his fiancé Astoria Greengrass who had reason to believe Draco was next in line to inherit two of Harry's titles and houses along with quite a lot of entailed Galleons and property if he could prove Harry wasn't capable of producing an heir.

Harry thought back to the meeting he'd had with the goblins immediately after the war. Ron and Hermione had offered to go with him but Harry thought it might be better going alone seeing he was planning to pay the entirety of the damage bill and whatever fine the goblins decided to levy. Instead that turned out to be a minor issue. Once Harry had explained the need to destroy the Horcruxes before Voldemort could be killed and why they'd believed one might be found in Bellatrix Lestrange's vault and the fact that the Horcrux they found was the only thing they took or intended to take from the vault, Ragnok admitted that what had happened with Griphook making an agreement to help them in return for the return of the sword of Gryffindor once they'd destroyed all the Horcruxes and how the goblin had broken the agreement abandoning them in the Lestrange vault was a breach of goblin honour. So Harry agreed to pay a fair price for half the costs of repairing the bank itself with Griphook's clan liable for the other half and the matter was settled.

Instead the main reason for them summoning Harry had been to formally hand over his inheritance. When he hadn't come in on his seventeenth birthday the goblin's had assumed he was too busy trying to fight the war. Soon after that he'd been declared public enemy number one and it would have been foolhardy to attempt visiting the bank. Once Voldemort had been destroyed and the rebuilding process was well in hand the goblins were able to take stock of their accounts and realised that the Potter accounts were still in stasis and they had realised that due to the fact his magical guardian had died when he was 15 and again at 16 he might not know about his inheritance. In fact if he had claimed his inheritance he wouldn't have to have broken into the Lestrange vault. House Lestrange was a vassal house to House Black and Bellatrix was still part of the Black family, therefore as head of House Black Harry had the right to remove any artefact from Bellatrix's vault.

So, contrary to their usual practice, rather than leave the vaults in stasis until they could confiscate them as abandoned they contacted the Potter heir to come in and claim the vaults so the money could be put to work to increase goblin profits.

Harry had been surprised by the size of the Potter fortune, but astounded by the fact that his legal name was not and never had been 'Harry James Potter'.

'Hadrian James Potter-Black- Evander-Peverell-Gryffindor-Slytherin' had put on the rings to accept his inheritances making him Lord Potter, Lord Black, Baron Evander, Viscount Peverell, the Duke of Gryffindor and the Earl of Slytherin. He hadn't wanted to accept the Slytherin title but hearing that it would go to the Malfoys if he didn't, made him put on the ring to see if it would accept him. He smirked when it did. It seemed the gossip mongrels of Hogwarts ended up being almost right for a change. He hadn't been the heir of Slytherin back in second year but now had become so by right of conquest. After having experienced the depth of hatred in second year he decided not to tell anyone and disillusioned the Slytherin ring. Thinking further about it he disillusioned all the rings except the Potter family ring to avoid any more attention from the press and strangers. Being the-man-who-conquered was definitely bad enough without giving them more ammunition.

-o0o-

Feeling well enough to be seen in public and to defend himself if necessary by the fourth day, Harry chose to meet with his accounts manager at Gringotts to discuss the inheritance laws of the houses he was head of. The goblin manager suggested that instead of paying one of them to go through the inheritance books it would make financial and legal sense to read them himself because he might come across other information that he hadn't thought to ask them to look for. So he collected the various family grimoire from each vault and returned home to his research glad of something to do while he came to terms with the changes. After extensive research he found that several of the families had laws preventing anyone not born of the bloodline from inheriting even through blood adoption rituals, but that since this spell was virtually unknown in the British Wizarding World none of the previous heads of house had updated their grimoire to exclude male pregnancies or to differentiate between the father of the heir being the sperm provider and the bearer. His sons would still be eligible to inherit all of his titles, provided he had any.

By the end of his 6 days of self-imposed isolation Harry had received several angry letters from his fiancé Ginny, her mother and youngest brother berating him for ignoring his fiancé. Even Hermione had sent him a letter though she sounded more worried over his disappearance than angry.

Deciding to face the music he apparated to the Burrow to visit his fiancé and her family.

"Where have you been? You missed dinner with my friends and Abbott's party on Saturday. I was so embarrassed" Ginny yelled when she saw him.

"I'm sorry Gin. I was recovering from an attack on Friday night" Harry explained.

"You couldn't have been that badly hurt. You didn't go to St. Mungo's" Ginny said mulishly.

"I did go to St. Mungo's but you know I can't stay there without the press finding out" Harry replied.

"Why didn't you come home here to convalesce?" Molly asked.

"I didn't need nursing and I wanted to be alone" Harry replied to his future mother in law patiently.

"That's crazy. You were hurt you needed your family around you" Molly argued.

"I'm perfectly safe at Grimmauld. I closed the wards and Winky and Kreacher took good care of me" Harry replied.

Hermione huffed as she always did when someone mentioned a house elf in her hearing but didn't say anything. She and Harry had argued about the issue until Harry threatened to stop speaking to her if she brought the subject up again.

"I needed time alone Mrs Weasley. I had to come to terms with what happened and I had some decisions to make" Harry tried to explain.

"We're about to get married. Don't you think I should be involved in those decisions?" Ginny asked angrily.

"Quite frankly, no" Harry retorted. "One of those decisions was how to tell you about being cursed and honestly while you are yelling at me questioning my right to think for myself and more concerned about how many parties you've missed than my well being is not how I plan to have this conversation."

He turned to Molly, "I'm sorry Mrs Weasley but I won't be staying for dinner after all. I'll open the owl wards so Ginny can contact me when she calms down" Harry said going outside to apparate home.

"Were you attacked on your way home from the pub?" Ron asked following him out.

"Yeah" Harry said sighing. "It wasn't your fault mate. I know you didn't tell anyone where we'd planned to meet."

Harry, Ron and Hermione had taken to keeping their meetings as quiet as possible after being ambushed several times when out in the muggle world by reporters, or various girls determined to bag the man-who-conquered.

"Is there anything I can do mate?" Ron asked as he followed Harry to the apparition point.

"I would be grateful if you could convince Ginny and your Mom not to send Howlers" Harry said hopefully.

"I'll try mate but I can't say I'm likely to make much difference" Ron said sighing.

"Don't worry Ron I won't blame you. I wonder how much it would cost to have the goblins invent a ward against Howlers?" he speculated.

"The twins might be cheaper. Let me know if you succeed" Ron said laughing.

Ron was right to be pessimistic in his ability to moderate his mother's or sister's temper. Two howlers arrived within the hour. Harry jotted of a quick note to the twins and to Bill who as a curse breaker had an extensive knowledge of wards asking if there was any possibility of warding against howlers. He contemplated sending a howler of his own back but decided it would probably make things worse.

He ignored their demands to return immediately and closed the mail wards for the night and went to bed early, the healers had warned him it would take a couple of weeks for his energy levels to return to normal.

Several days (and multiple howlers) later Harry felt well enough to deal with the confrontation. He apparated to the Burrow and braced himself for the onslaught.

"Where have you been? And what on earth are you wearing?" Ginny asked looking at his baggy sweat pants. "We're invited to Michael Corner's party tonight and you need to get changed immediately!"

"I'm not going" Harry replied. "I'm on sick leave. How would it look if I was going out to parties when I wasn't well enough for duty?"

"What do you mean you're not going? I already accepted" Ginny screeched.

"Without asking me?" Harry asked annoyed. "You knew I'd been injured. And I've asked you before not to accept invitations without asking me."

"Yes well. I've already said we're coming so go and get changed" Ginny demanded.

"I'm not going out tonight" Harry repeated slowly. "And so we don't have to have this argument again. I'm not going out tomorrow night or any other night while I'm on medical leave either. Nor will I ever want to go out the night before I have an early shift. You do not know my work schedule and I do not want you to accept invitations without asking me. We've had this conversation before Ginny so you did know not to."

"But I already said we'd come" Ginny whined.

Harry summoned parchment and a self inking quill and jotted a quick note before calling Keacher. "Kreacher will you take this note to Michael Corner and give him my apologies for not being able to attend tonight" he asked. He turned back to Ginny, "you can go without me" he suggested.

"No I can't! Everyone would spend all night asking where you were" Ginny exclaimed crossly. "Everyone would think I'm a terrible fiancé if I'm out partying while you were home sick.

"So you're prepared to be a lousy fiancé dragging me out somewhere I'm not well enough to be and putting my job at risk if my boss hears about me being at a party while on sick leave so long as nobody calls you on it to your face" Harry said disgustedly. He walked out without listening to her protests.

Harry sat eating his dinner alone in the kitchen. Kreacher refused to eat with him. It concerned him greatly that Ginny hadn't asked about his health on either of the times he'd seen her since being injured. He'd told her he'd been cursed, treated at St Mungo's and was still on medical leave a week later and she hadn't seemed to care. She was more concerned by the fact he'd disrupted her social life. He thought about that for a moment. Either she already knew what had happened which meant she was involved in organising the attack or she didn't really care about him at all. The thought ate at him. Could she have done this or was she really just another shallow fan girl wanting the fame of becoming the wife of 'The-Saviour-of-the-Wizarding-World'. He'd thought she loved him. How had he been so blind?

He decided pessimistically that if he could prove she wasn't involved in the attack he may as well marry her anyway. He wasn't likely to ever meet anyone who wasn't more interested in the saviour than they were in plain old Harry. Hermione was the only witch on the planet who didn't think that way and she was engaged to his best mate. At least if he married Ginny one of her brothers was sure to be willing to help with the curse. Ron or the twins would in a heartbeat though Charlie would possibly be a better choice as unfortunately Ginny looked more like him, short and slightly solid, rather than her other taller lankier brothers.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or NCIS or any of their characters.

Harry started the shower and stripped off carefully, this was the first day since he was cursed that his stomach and balls didn't hurt and he was keen to make sure everything still worked. The healer had been distressingly vague about how much function he would lose just stating he would no longer have the ability to impregnate a woman. He wouldn't mind the loss of fertility so long as he could still have sex with his wife. Not that Ginny would let him get anywhere near her before the wedding but he'd been dreaming of their wedding night since they started dating back in sixth year. He didn't want to admit even to himself that he'd had other more satisfying dreams of bodies that were hard and angular where Ginny was soft and curvy and of being touched by larger rougher hands.

He carefully examined his balls, were they perhaps slightly smaller. He'd never measured them before so he could just be imagining things. Maybe they were smaller, but not enough to really bother him anyway, he decided looking at them in the mirror. His cock looked the same size though it remained depressingly flaccid. He took it in hand and tried to stimulate a response but nothing happened and he started to panic, attempting to pump himself more and more frantically until it started to hurt. Giving up on it and the idea of showering though he really did need one he turned off the water and walked back to his room throwing himself on the bed in despair.

He laid there for hours trying not to think about what had just happened, or rather not happened but he couldn't think about anything else. Eventually he decided he needed to read through the information he'd been given again. Originally he was only concerned with how to manage the initial pain. Hopefully this was only a temporary problem after all this was the first day he could even touch his balls without wanting to scream in pain. 'Perhaps they just needed a bit more recovery time' he hoped desperately.

"Accio information on this bloody spell" he growled, not bothering to get up and look for it.

He was startled when not only the pamphlet but a book came through the door knowing into his chest. He didn't think a family as entrenched in the pureblood ideology would have a use for this information. The cover had no title so he opened the book expecting it to be a treatise on legal spells that could be used to torture but instead it was an American book titled "Spells for the homosexual Wizard" which had had a plain leather cover stuck over the original and the name Alphard Black written in the inside cover. 'No wonder he got disowned' Harry thought to himself. He wondered if Sirius had known his uncle was homosexual. He hoped so because that meant there was at least one parental influence in his life that wouldn't have disowned him for this. He looked for the fertility spell he was looking for and saw a note written in the margin by Bellatrix. "Great torture curse but not for interrogation - pain lasts too long, can't be stopped or reversed."

He read through the book carefully and then the pamphlet. Neither of them listed possible performance issues as a side effect of using the spell, in fact the book described the possibility of a permanent semi-erection during the last months of pregnancy as the baby put pressure on the top of the prostate. Not understanding what or where his prostate was Harry looked through the book further and realised he possibly needed to know more about anatomy. There were pleasure spells listed to stimulate the prostate but even if he hadn't been warned not to use any magic on himself for the week he wasn't too keen on casting an unknown spell anywhere near his cock, balls or arse.

He was relieved to read that the spell gave him the ability to conceive a child magically and would take care of developing a womb for the foetus once it was conceived so he didn't have to deal with menstruating except as his body returned to normal after the birth of a child which he was warned could take two or three months. He hadn't even considered the possibility.

Leaving the house the next day, semi disguised in a beanie and scarf and his muggle clothing he walked to a nearby bookstore and looked for a book on human anatomy. The sales attendant interrupted him flicking through a couple to make sure they had the information he wanted. "You might do better looking in the sex shop down the street" she said disdainfully.

"Thanks" Harry replied sarcastically shoving the books he was looking at into the nearest empty spot on the shelves and walking out.

He cast a magic revealing charm and glanced around for any hidden witches or wizards and an animagus revealing charm to check Rita Skeeter wasn't following him he headed to the adult book shop up the road.

Ignoring all the sex manuals in favour of an informative book on male and female reproductive anatomy and a book titles 'Sex for Dummies' he then browsed around the store looking for the type of magazines Dean and Seamus had had at school. He looked at the various magazines, slightly repulsed by the whips and bondage and by the massive breasts on the front of some of them. He moved along the rack finding one of fit looking women that he thought might help him before his attention was caught by the man on the front of the Playgirl. He could have sworn for a moment that it was Draco Malfoy. He picked it up for a closer look and was thrilled to feel a twitch of interest from his nether region too.

"Seriously Malfoy?" he muttered to his cock in disbelief but he did purchase the magazine, blushing madly as the salesgirl rang it up. "He's gorgeous isn't he" she gushed admiring the cover photograph. "There's a better photoshoot of him in this magazine though. Do you want one of these too?"

"Yes please" Harry stammered.

The girl grinned and added it to his total before placing it in a black plastic bag that thankfully had the logo on the inside.

Harry hurried home keen to see if the Malfoy lookalike or better yet one of the other guys could have more of an effect in private. He headed up to his room and set up privacy wards before opening the bag.

The cover man looked less like Malfoy in the other photos grinning amiably and Harry was pleased to note this didn't affect his interest in the toned male body. 'So it wasn't him looking like Malfoy that me' he thought with relief. He decided to take things slowly and see if he could build up his arousal before trying to get himself off so he reached up under his shirt and twisted his nipples the way he normally liked before running his hands down his torso and playing a little with his happy trail, before reaching his goal. Wrapping one hand around himself he stared at the picture of the blonde doing the same and was rewarded by his erection fully rising to the occasion. Pumping himself slowly he thought about the time he'd walked in on Oliver Wood and Alicia Spinet in the quidditch locker room shower after returning under his invisibility cloak to collect something after curfew and hadn't been able to bring himself to do the respectful thing and turn away instead of watching. It almost worked. He could feel his orgasm approaching but as his balls started to draw up ready to ejaculate he felt a burning pain sear through them. Harry screamed and passed out.

-o0o-

Harry woke up shaking in horror for at least the dozenth time since he'd been cursed. He'd begun dreaming of giving birth to a baby that looked like the homunculus Voldemort. Sometimes it even sat up and talked to him in Voldemort's voice thanking Harry for bringing him back to life before calling the death eaters and killing all Harry's friends.

"As if that bastard didn't give me enough nightmares" he muttered disgustedly.

-o0o-

Harry was a lot smarter than his grades at Hogwarts would suggest, not surprising when you realised he was involved in one crazy battle after another every year, and since he'd had the Horcrux removed from his head, both his magic and his cognitive abilities had grown significantly. Grown to the point he could rival Hermione's ability to research and discover rare spells and twist existing spells to meet his needs when he was motivated enough though he'd never have Hermione's love of studying for its own sake. One advantage of being unable to return to work as an auror until fully recovered was the extra free time and energy to work on his own research projects. One of these was tweaking the Fidelius charm to hide a secret other than a location He managed to at least partially succeed. The original spell hid a location from everyone but the people in question would remember events that had occurred in that location before the spell was cast even if they didn't know where it was. His version of the spell could hide a secret but a person that had already known that secret would still remember enough conversations about the secret to work out what it was most of the time. So unless it was new or very little known information the new spell was worthless. Harry was a bit disappointed, he had been hoping that he could hide things about his fame or appearance so that he could travel around in public anonymously. But while the spell wouldn't work to do that it would be able to prevent anyone who knew how he'd been cursed from telling anyone about it. He cast the spell, this was one incident in his life he definitely didn't want spread all over the front page of 'the daily prophet' or 'witch weekly'.

Harry decided that it was time to tell Ginny exactly what had happened even if he needed to silence and petrify her to do it. He apparated to the Burrow when he knew she wouldn't be there and met with Mr Weasley to ask for advice.

"Harry welcome, Ginny and Molly have just gone out shopping did they expect you?" Arthur asked smiling at the young man he regarded as a seventh son.

"No I came to ask your advice" Harry said.

"What's the problem Harry?" Arthur asked.

"Ginny and I don't seem to be getting along too well lately" Harry began.

"Preparing for a wedding is a stressful time" Arthur said reassuringly. "It's normal to have some minor disagreements as you prepare to spend the rest of your lives together."

"Ginny knows I've been on medical leave for the last week and she hasn't even asked what happened or how I was" Harry said.

"Are you alright?" Arthur asked anxiously.

Harry shrugged. "I was cursed. There are some permanent side effects that I need to talk to Ginny about but every time I've seen her this week she's started a fight about how me not being willing to go to every single party is affecting her social life. At the moment the only way I can see getting her to listen would be to tie her to a chair until she's ready to hear what I have to say and I know that wouldn't end well" Harry said.

"Is it that important Harry?" Arthur asked concerned.

"It will affect our marriage so I won't marry her until she knows" Harry said simply.

"Perhaps you should tell me what it is and I could prepare her to hear it" Arthur suggested.

"She deserves to hear it first" Harry said doubtfully.

"Okay when she comes home I'll have a talk to her, tell her she needs to listen to what you have to tell her, and then send her to Grimmauld to talk to you" Arthur offered.

"Thanks Arthur" Harry said smiling. "I guess I'd better get out of here before anyone gets home."

Harry apparated home and opened the floo, nervously taking a seat in the lounge to wait. He went over all the things he needed to say and hoped that Ginny would listen rationally.

It was several hours before Ginny appeared in the floo. Harry immediately gave her permission to come through.

"What do you want to say Harry" Ginny asked impatiently.

"Sit down Ginny. Would you like a cuppa?" Harry asked pouring her a cup laced with a mild calming draft.

"Get to the point Harry" Ginny huffed.

Harry put the tea into her hands knowing that particular potion worked by breathing the vapours as well as by drinking it. "I need to tell you about the curse I was hit with" he began.

"Is something wrong? You look fine" Ginny said finally concerned.

"I was hit by a medical spell developed in America that allows a man to get pregnant" Harry said quietly.

"You're pregnant" Ginny screeched making Harry grateful he'd silenced the room. "Who's the bastard that knocked you up? I'll kill them!"

"No I'm not pregnant" Harry said patiently. "The spell just allows the possibility I could become pregnant if I had sexual intercourse with a wizard."

"That's disgusting!" Ginny exclaimed. "Why would anyone even think to do that? And why did you need to tell me that? Does this spell cause those perverted desires?" she asked suspiciously.

"No it doesn't change my preferences at all" Harry said honestly. "Unfortunately, the curse does make me unable to impregnate a woman."

"We can't have a child?" Ginny asked shocked.

Harry, watching her expressions carefully for any sign of guilt, could see that she was genuinely surprised unfortunately he also saw a pleased expression cross her face before she was quick enough to mask it.

"No I'm saying that to have a child, I would need to be the one to carry the baby. There is a muggle method of fertilization without actual sex that I can use. American healers would be able to carry out the procedure and then we would have to go into seclusion once the pregnancy started to show" Harry explained.

"You can't do that. It's totally wrong" Ginny exclaimed. Harry wondered cynically whether it was the idea of her husband being pregnant, the use of muggle methods or the need for six or seven months of isolation that she was objecting to the most.

"It is also now the only way I can produce an heir of my own. If I choose not to do so I will need to relinquish some if not all of my titles" Harry said trying to stay calm.

"So you're saying I would have to agree to this to become Lady Potter" Ginny asked incredulously. "And where are you going to find a wizard who would agree to this despicable plan that you could trust to keep it a secret?"

"I had hoped one of your brothers would be willing" Harry said. "Charlie looks the most like you but any of the others would also produce a child that any tests would prove to be the child of a Potter/Weasley union" Harry said.

"I can't believe any of my brothers would agree to do something so disgusting" Ginny exclaimed.

"Well it's not like we need to actually have sex. We don't even need to be in the same room" Harry said beginning to get upset with her bigotry. "The procedure could be done by a healer so and it would only take your brother about half an hour to be the donor and it's something they probably do most days anyway so I don't think it would be too much to ask."

"I won't agree to this Harry" Ginny shouted.

"Then Hannah Longbottom will be the next Lady Potter and Astoria Greengrass will become the next Lady Black" Harry said flatly. "I cannot hold the titles if it's impossible for me to produce an heir."

"What!?" Ginny screeched.

"The laws of inheritance are clear Ginny. If I can't produce an heir, then I can't be head of the family and while Neville might let it slide you can guarantee Malfoy wont and once the goblins know I won't have any choice but to take myself out of the line of succession" Harry said tiredly.

"I will be the Lady Potter, Harry" Ginny demanded.

"Then I need to have a child, more than one if the first is a girl I need a male child to inherit the Black fortune" Harry replied.

Ginny huffed at him and went storming off. Harry sighed as he heard her slam the door on the way out. He sent an owl inviting Ron and Hermione to dinner to tell them about the curse. Hopefully they could talk to Ginny for him when she'd calmed down a bit.

-o0o-

Ron came out of the floo half an hour early. "What on earth did you say to my sister this time?" he asked commiseratingly. "I don't think I've ever seen her so angry."

Harry winced, Ginny could be really vindictive when she was angry. He only hoped she wouldn't do anything he would regret too much before she calmed down.

"I told her why I was on medical leave for the last week" Harry said seriously.

"She's angry because you're sick?" Ron asked incredulously.

"I'm not sick Ron I was cursed" Harry corrected.

"What on earth is she angry about" Ron went on, then paled. "Unless you were cursed by an angry boyfriend who caught you in bed with their lover?" he said, his eyes begging Harry to deny it.

"Of course not" Harry said sounding more amused than guilty. "You know I was cursed in the street on the way home from the pub on Friday" he explained.

Ron immediately felt guilty that Harry had been cursed while he'd been out with them. He'd let his guard down because he and Hermione were there and had drunk more than he should have. They should have made sure he got home safely.

"We should have walked home with you" he said guiltily.

"No it should have been safe enough. You weren't to know. But mate one thing you should know without asking me. I would never cheat on your sister" Harry said calmly.

"You love her that much?" Ron asked knowing things had not exactly been good between his best mate and his sister lately.

Harry shook his head sighing. "No I respect your family too much to do that to you all. The way things are going Ginny and I may not make it to the altar, Ron. We seem to be fighting a lot lately. Your Dad thinks it's just pre-wedding jitters but I'm not so sure about that. I'm about one more major tantrum away from calling off the whole wedding. But I won't do anything underhand like cheat" Harry admitted.

A/N: thank you to Rori Potter, Silvermane1, DS2010, PappyOldGuy, Sakura Lisel, PinkEll304, forest63, Narcissa1, charm13insomnia, bluestorm28, FlopsyTheStingoDingo, IVANHOE, redhoodfan, Milamb, LunarRoseFox, demonsinger, Dolphin Delight, lwhit28, justanotherharrypotterpenname, , Lalenja, apache-Girl, pococo, Romanak99, Amethyst-Pheonix2003, Reinstar Queen of the void, bear001, SilverRouge, quatra888, Amonshy, blaketiger, katyasrogersbarnes, lostgirl888, , blue moon, SlySn4ke, megalogical, idaschmedt, celise10201, celise1020,CDKLJ2345, BAB07, howlingblackwolf, Mashkai30, psycho-banana, Pikachu79, Soullock1990, Midnight Owl 7, misty sea, , chibifae, famnmnable, Black Were-Dragon, Bloody Gale Reaper, ninnki92, libraryhooker, Brook Kellogg, Lizzie Snape-Malfoy, fairywolf30, Zanthia2, Someone who knows nothing, cmac0593, Sitanya, Hazel Moonlight, fairyprincess91 and Flobobjenrob for your support.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or Harry Potter or any of their characters.

Hermione arrived hurrying from work her mind still thinking of all the things she wanted to put on her to do list for the next day. "Hi Harry, Ron" she said absently kissing each of them on the cheek.

"Hey Hermione" Harry said smiling. He watched affectionately as Ron pulled her close for a more passionate kiss. "You don't kiss your boyfriend exactly the same way as you've just kissed his best mate" he said scolding playfully.

Harry laughed as Hermione blushed. "Sorry Harry" she said.

"Don't apologise to me. Best kiss I've had all week" Harry said amused.

Harry wasn't sure whether Ron's flush at this comment was caused by embarrassment or anger but whatever it was he didn't say anything.

"Oh no are you and Ginny fighting again?" Hermione asked dismayed.

"Still fighting might be a better description than again" Harry said dryly. "We don't seem to see eye to eye on anything lately."

"Is there anything I can do? I could talk to her?" Hermione suggested.

"No I don't think so. Hopefully she just needs time to think things through" Harry said sighing dejectedly. "She seems more interested in how people see her than in our anything I have to say to her."

"So even getting wounded didn't help. She didn't want to heroically nurse you back to health?" Hermione asked.

Harry burst out laughing. Please tell me you didn't arrange to have me cursed in the hope of rescuing my engagement?" Harry teased knowing without doubt that neither of his friends would have had anything to do with it.

"Of course not you prat" Hermione said slapping him lightly. "Oh! Please tell me that's not where you were injured" she begged half a second later.

"Relax Hermione it's not and you didn't harm me at all" Harry laughed.

"So what curse were you hit with? Are you fully recovered?" Hermione asked demandingly.

"Something very obscure in this country apparently, that debilitates almost immediately for three days and hurts like hell for a week but isn't actually a curse. I'm fully recovered in terms of being able to return to normal duties at work Monday but the spell did cause some irreversible changes" Harry said. "Ginny's having trouble coming to terms with the consequences of those changes."

"What are you talking about Harry?" Ron asked.

"The spell I was hit with is actually an American medical spell invented about fifty years ago that allows gay couples to have a child. I only thought it was a curse because normally the patient is given dreamless sleep before they cast it due to the pain involved" Harry began.

"So you can now get pregnant?" Hermione asked surprised. "Did the curse give you a uterus and ovaries?"

"No thank Merlin there aren't any physical changes unless I actually become pregnant and even then I think it would be temporary. I can get pregnant by magic at the unfortunate cost of being no longer able to impregnate a woman. Either I have to find a wizard to impregnate me and bear a son or hand my titles over to the next heir in line" Harry said seriously.

"HaHaHa men can't get pregnant! Great joke Harry!" Ron said laughing.

"I'm not joking Ron" Harry said annoyed that his best mate could think he could joke about something like this. Couldn't he see how he was feeling.

"Harry do you have a book or anything to tell me more about this spell?" Hermione asked.

Harry silently went to the library and collected the book. "I'll have to ask you not to take it out of the house. Besides the fact that I do not want to risk the knowledge of what's happened to me getting out, possession of this book could see you serve six months in Azkaban" he said seriously handing it to her.

Hermione nodded and eagerly opened the book "It has a table of contents" she said surprised.

"Yes, most American books do" Harry said mildly.

"Then how come I've never seen one in the wizarding world before?" Hermione asked crossly.

"Very few American books are accepted for distribution here Hermione. They're considered too full of new and subversive information like the fact gay men can have children, purebloods aren't magically stronger than muggleborns and electronics can be shielded to work in magical houses. The Americans have even invented items that are partly electronic and partly enchanted" Harry said wincing at the thought of the imminent explosion as Hermione processed this information.

Harry sat there for a second wondering which of his friend's tempers was going to erupt first.

"What do you mean blokes can have babies?" Ron yelled winning Harry's internal bet.

"There is a spell developed in America to allow gay wizards to bear their own child" Harry repeated. "Apparently before the spell was invented they'd hire a surrogate and then the other partner would magically adopt the child. But not all family inheritance laws allow for magical adoption" Harry said. "There are muggle techniques to enable conception without actual sexual intercourse that the healer I saw is qualified to use, so hopefully you or one of your brothers would agree to help me fall pregnant then Ginny and I will go on an extended holiday until the baby is born and pretend that Ginny is the baby's mother" Harry held his breath after explaining, hoping Ron wouldn't have the same reaction as his sister.

"Why on earth would you do this?" Ron asked. "There are plenty of war orphans why not just adopt?"

Harry had to admit the idea of getting pregnant and having a baby grow inside his body freaked him out more than a little too. He honestly didn't know if he could go through with it but he knew he had to try even if that meant hiring a healer to keep him dosed up on calming draughts throughout his pregnancy.

"That would mean handing the Earldom of Slytherin, and the Lordship of the House of Black not to mention the Black fortune over to Malfoy" Harry said giving the reason that would make sense to Ron. "The inheritance follows bloodlines in a way that specifically rules out blood adoptions."

"Bloody Ferret" Ron grumbled.

"Between the money and the Black votes in the Wizengamot he'd have as much influence as his father did before the war" Hermione said horrified.

"Why are you asking me for help?" Ron asked.

"If the child was yours and nobody not sworn to secrecy knows I'm pregnant then there would be no reason to question the child's parentage it would have the Potter and Weasley magical inheritance and everyone would assume I was the father and Ginny the mother" Harry explained.

"That makes a lot of sense" Hermione put in. "You should do it Ron. If we keep it between the four of us and swear the healers to secrecy, then it should work."

"Unless of course it was Malfoy who paid to have me cursed" Harry said. "If he already knows what's wrong with me then he will know that I cannot father a child."

"Would it matter? You are still a male parent" Hermione asked.

Harry sighed "Legally I have no idea. There is no mention of a situation like this in the Black inheritance book because until fairly recently it wasn't possible and the inheritance laws haven't been updated in centuries. Even the goblins weren't sure how it would affect my child inheriting the titles. The inheritance laws don't say that I can't bear my own heir instead of siring one but you can bet Malfoy would try to have that changed if he knew about it, and the goblins weren't sure whether he would succeed or not. As you can imagine they're invested in the Black fortune not being handed over to racist bigots like the Malfoys if it can be avoided."

"So what exactly freaked Ginny out?" Hermione asked. "Was it not being able to have her own baby? Because Harry you have to understand how hard that would be to know that your kids are actually your brother's children."

"No, actually I saw her face when she first realised I couldn't get her pregnant and she was pleased. She only got angry when I told her I'd have to get pregnant to hold on to my titles. I'm not sure if she was upset about make pregnancy being unnatural or the fact she'd have to spend seven or eight months with me in hiding to maintain the deception"

"We'll you know the wizarding world is about a century behind when it comes to things like this. And with all the emphasis on inheritance and bloodlines I'm not surprised it is homophobic" Hermione said.

Harry pulled a face. "It's not like I need to have sex with a bloke" he said tiredly.

"No just use some muggle technique she doesn't understand, nothing scary about that" Hermione said sarcastically.

"What's homophobic?" Ron asked crossly, he hated when Harry and Hermione had conversations he didn't understand.

"Homophobic refers to a fear or dislike of people who are gay Ron" Hermione said.

"Why would you be afraid of happy people and what's that got to do with Harry having to have a baby?" Ron asked.

"Not gay as in happy Ron, gay as in homosexual" Hermione said patiently.

"Homowhat?!" Ron said blushing violently, unable to even say the word sexual in front of his girlfriend.

Harry laughed. "I've got this one Hermione. You should go powder your nose or something for a minute so I can be blunt without him freaking out about me using such words in front of you" he suggested.

Hermione huffed but got up and excused herself.

"Ron gay or homosexual means guys who want to have sex with another man instead of a woman" Harry said bluntly.

"What!" Ron said choking on the biscuits he was eating.

"It can also refer to two girls together though there are several other words that describe that better" Harry said calmly.

"That's disgusting" Ron blurted out looking sick.

"What's disgusting Ron?" Harry asked. "It's normal for at least two percent of the muggle population. I would expect there would be quite a few gay witches and wizards. We just don't know about them because it's so frowned upon in Britain that no-one's willing to admit it."

"You're pranking me" Ron declared angrily.

"I swear I'm not Ron" Harry said seriously, suddenly very glad he'd never confided in his friends, the suspicion that he might be either gay or bisexual. "It doesn't matter anyway. All I'm going to ask you to do is jerk off into a cup and then the healer will spell it inside me or something. Nothing homosexual about it" Harry tried to reassure his friend as Hermione stuck her head in.

"Can I come back yet? Did you get it sorted?" Hermione asked sharing an eye-roll with Harry over Ron's prudish inability to speak about sex with her in the room.

"I don't think he believed me" Harry said going into the kitchen and helping himself to more tea. "He thought homosexuality too disgusting to be real."

"That could be Ginny's objections as well" Hermione suggested.

"It could but after the fuss she's made the last couple of weeks about not being able to attend parties while I was injured I'd bet that part of the problem is the idea of spending seven or eight month in total seclusion with me so nobody notices she isn't the one who's pregnant" Harry said tiredly.

"You don't have to marry Ginny" Hermione said quietly.

Harry shrugged "I know" he said despondently.

"Then if you don't mind my asking why are you still with her?" Hermione asked.

"Hey that's my sister you're talking about" Ron protested.

"Better the devil you know" Harry muttered.

Unfortunately, Hermione heard him "Harry that's not a reason" she scolded.

"Yeah but with this curse I have to marry someone with a male family member I trust absolutely and you and Luna don't have brothers, your father's a muggle and Luna's father died in the war" Harry said.

"Can you trust Ginny that much when she's this angry with you?" Hermione asked anxiously.

"I don't need to trust her not to tell anyone. I spelled the secret. None of you can talk about it in front of someone who doesn't know"

"You managed to alter the Fidelius?" Hermione asked excitedly.

Harry smiled proudly, "Yeah, an offhand comment from Luna showed me the way. That girl's uncanny" he admitted.

"So what else have you put under the Fidelius?" Hermione asked.

"It's unfortunately limited to new secrets. If you already know something you will continue to know it even if you can't talk about it" Harry said.

"So putting your appearance or your engagement under Fidelius wouldn't work" Hermione said.

"No but putting the time and location of the wedding will unless the press already know" Harry said smiling. "Unless of course they get hold on an invitation."

-o0o-

Ginny came storming up to Harry as he arrived at the Burrow late the next afternoon. "How come I couldn't tell anyone what's going on with us?" She demanded.

Harry looked at her. "Because you promised you wouldn't" he said flatly.

"WHAT!" Ginny screeched.

Harry winced and resisted the urge to check if his ears were bleeding. "How would you know you couldn't tell anyone unless you'd tried to break your promise?" he asked.

"That's not the point! How dare you spell me to secrecy like that!?" Ginny yelled.

"You're yelling at me for not trusting you to keep a promise after telling me you tried to break it? Don't be such a hypocrite" Harry yelled back.

"Release the spell" Ginny demanded.

"No!" Harry said flatly. "I didn't spell you specifically. I spelled the secret itself because it is absolutely vital that the secret be kept. Obviously I can't trust you to keep this a secret so the spell stays."

"How can we have a marriage if I can't talk about things?" Ginny asked.

"Don't be ridiculous. The spell doesn't stop you from talking to me. And if you want advice it also won't stop you from talking to Ron or Hermione because they already know as well, as long as nobody else is able to hear you" Harry said firmly. "I'm more concerned about the fact I can't trust you to keep my secrets for even twenty-four hours without forcing you with magic."

"Then why can't I talk about it now" Ginny asked crossly.

"You can't shout about it now probably because there's someone home within hearing distance who doesn't know it. If you were speaking at a more appropriate volume for talking about something you'd promised to keep secret, you probably wouldn't have any difficulty unless someone was using an extendable ear" Harry explained.

"I've been to the bank I can magically adopt an heir for the Potter and Evander lines, and adopt Teddy Lupin for the Black line since he has Black ancestry which leaves having to bear an heir for the Peverell, Gryffindor and Slytherin lines" Harry said giving her more information. "So that means three children of my own, at least one of them a boy."

"No I absolutely refuse" Ginny declared.

"You're not even willing to talk about it?" Harry asked.

"No the whole idea is disgusting and wrong" Ginny said stubbornly.

"Very well" Harry said leaving the room. He went up to Ron's room finding him alone. "Ron can you contact Hermione, Neville and Luna for me and ask them to come here this afternoon. I need to make an official announcement.

"You're breaking your engagement?" Ron asked realising that having three non-family members present would formalise the end of the arrangement.

"Yes, Ginny refuses to let me have children" Harry said sadly.

"Harry mate I don't know any witch who will let you do that" Ron said. "Why the formal announcement?"

"I don't think Ginny or your mother is going to take this very well. If I make a formal announcement they cannot ignore it. I'll send an announcement notice to the prophet tonight as well."

"What are you going to do afterwards, you'll have every witch in the country throwing herself at you again?"

Harry shuddered at the idea. "I dunno mate" he said.

"Hermione will be here at six, I'll go floo Neville and Luna" Ron said. "You wanna hang out here or come back later?"

"Can you floo me when the others and Ginny and your parents are all here?" Harry asked.

"Sure thing mate" Ron agreed going to make the calls.

-o0o-

It was ten past six before Harry saw Ron's head in the fire. "They're all here" he said.

"Thanks Ron" Harry said before apparating to the Burrow ward line where he found Hermione waiting outside for him.

"What's going on Harry?" she asked.

"I needed three nonfamily members to witness the official end of my engagement to Ginny" Harry said.

"Oh Harry are you sure?" Hermione asked. "If you make a formal announcement like this the betrothal agreements will be very much in Ginny's favour if you want to reinstate the engagement."

"Yes Hermione I'm sure. I won't be reinstating this engagement" Harry said firmly. "She won't accept that I need heirs."

"She doesn't actually have to agree. If you fall pregnant she'd go into hiding or you can claim you've taken a second wife" Hermione said.

"Yes she does, the betrothal contract the Weasleys wrote limits me to one wife and she has the right to refuse to accept illegitimate children" Harry said holding it up. "I thought of that. Besides I'm not sure I could stand being married to such a harpie as she's been lately. I don't like constantly arguing with her. I want a peaceful life."

"Which you aren't going to get married to Ginny. Let's go in and get this over with then" Hermione agreed giving him a quick hug.

Harry hugged her back. "Thanks for your support. I hope it doesn't cause too many problems with Ron and his family."

Harry walked into the kitchen followed by Hermione, Ron came in the other door with Neville and Luna. The Weasleys were just sitting down to dinner. "Harry, Hermione have you eaten?" Molly said cheerfully getting up to get more plates. "Hello Luna dear, hello Neville."

"No Mrs Weasley I'm not here for dinner, please sit down. I have an announcement to make. Ginevra Molly Weasley in front of these witnesses, Neville of the House of Longbottom, Luna of the House of Lovegood and Hermione Granger, I am calling off our engagement and declaring null and void the betrothal contract brokered between the House of Weasley and the House of Potter, the House of Black, the House of Evander, the Houser of Peverell, The House of Gryffindor and the House of Slytherin. He held up the contract and then handed it to Arthur Weasley.

Arthur opened the contract and saw that the end clauses had been signed by Harry. He sighed looking at the young man standing in front of him and with heavy heart stood. "I Arthur Head of the House of Weasley accept the honourable withdrawal of the betrothal and the voiding of the contract between Ginevra of the house of Weasley and Harry Head of the Houses of Potter, Black, Evander, Peverell, Gryffindor and Slytherin."

Harry bowed his head. "Thank you sir" he said quietly. "I'll make the public announcement." He handed over a copy of the press release he'd prepared and Arthur read it over quickly and nodded. Harry turned and said goodbye to everyone and walked back to the apparition point and apparated home.

He closed the wards to prevent all entry until he could adjust them to remove access to Ginny and Molly, picked up the public announcements he'd prepared and sent them to the Quibbler, The Prophet and Witch Weekly.

"Winky can you make sure that anything that belongs to Ginny Weasley and Molly Weasley is put on the table here so I can send it on to them" Harry said.

"Yes Master Harry" Winky said. Items began appearing on the table and Harry conjured a box to pack them in. Some were innocently left cardigans and kitchen utensils left over from the days Molly had run the kitchen here for the order of the phoenix. But buried among the harmless objects were vials of potions he did not recognise.

"Winky where were these potions found?" Harry asked.

"They was in the kitchen in the hidey cupboard next to the stove" Winky said.

Harry frowned in confusion and walked ever to the stove "Where? He asked.

"Here Master Harry" Winky said opening a small cupboard ideally placed to keep herbs and spices used in cooking but suspiciously hidden by strong wards.

"Who was keyed to these wards?" Harry asked. "And do you recognise any of these potions?"

"I'se not know" Winky said nervously.

"Don't worry Winky, you're not in trouble for not knowing. Can you ask Hermione to come? Tell her I've got the wards shut down so she'll have to knock" Harry said giving her another job to do to settle her down.

"Yes Master Harry" Winky said popping away.

Harry then cast identifying spells at the ward and began dismantling it.

Harry. Are you here? What's wrong?" Hermione called through the front door.

"I'm fine Hermione" Harry answered opening the door.

"I was wondering if you could identify these potions?" he asked as he led her into the kitchen.

"What?" Hermione asked confused.

"I asked Winky to collect all of Ginny and Molly's stuff from the house. She got these potions from the little cupboard next to the stove"

"I never knew there was a cupboard there" Hermione said. She picked up the potion vials and sniffed cautiously before casting the identifier spell. She wrote down the ingredients. "I'll need to do some research and get back to you Harry."

"Thanks Hermione. The cupboard was warded by Molly. I never knew it was there either."

A/N: Thank you to Ashley (Guest), Lizzie Snape-Malfoy, charm13insomnia, Rori Potter, DS2010, Locket1, Manuella black, XxRahzelxX, Crazyforeverything, HPFAN88, darkmousey-15, Yazumin, hadrianlopez1, Entrusting, PrincessAngleBabyX3, Ambeth, AvidWolf14, RiverWinchester, Buggy98, hadrianlopez1, Catus, Crawcolady, shflister, Artemis Teilor, HP Girl 28, Nataly S. Potter, Someone who knows nothing, elvenmagick, Meredyth Pendragon, xDarklightx, Kuraihikaru, Sue92, Lunezx, melarem, FrozenDream, bluediamonds1986, angelgirl1410916, lean238, emerald-flame-66, calindsay, Rain Kitsune, and angelpet3450 for your support.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Disclaimer" I do not own Harry Potter or NCIS or any of their characters.

Hermione looked exhausted when she returned next morning. "Harry you need to see a healer for a flushing potion and to ask for a scan for any long term potions especially love potions" she said.

"Hermione?" Harry asked concerned.

"These two are love potions, and this one is a fertility potion and this last one is a lust potion. This combination is exactly what I would use if I wanted to trap someone into marrying me for the fame or the money and didn't care about their reaction and wasn't afraid of being caught" Hermione said bluntly

"This is a low grade love potion, it'll generate feelings that will last for a couple of months but then loses its effectiveness over time no matter how high the dose, which could explain why you used to let Ginny have her way all the time and now the two of you fight" Hermione said. "This one is a mild attraction potion, nothing illegal, but it's keyed to Ron so I think it was meant for me, leftover from when the Weasleys were living here at the start of the war" she added pointing to a dusty vial.

"That doesn't make a whole lot of sense Hermione" Harry said. "Ginny wouldn't let me feel her up let alone come close to having sex."

"I expect she was waiting for a sign the fertility potion was working so she could take one too and let you ravish her" Hermione said thoughtfully.

"That explains why Ginny loves to come and cook me breakfast nearly every weekend even though I've asked her not to because it upsets Kreacher and Winky" Harry added nodding. "But I don't think I need to be checked, Ginny's a lousy cook I've been vanishing most of the food she makes me and just pretending to have eaten it for months."

Hermione burst out laughing. "Ginny's actually quite a good cook. This potion has a faint mushroom taste" she explained.

"And since our time in the tent I hate mushrooms" Harry laughed too.

"Get the test done anyway Harry. They'll test your hair and you'll have proof if you've been potioned in the last six months or so" Hermione suggested.

In the end Harry did as Hermione suggested and got proof that he had indeed been potioned. In fact because his hair had never required cutting, because Harry was using his minor metamorphmagus talent to keep it the desired length, the healers were able to get several years' worth of potion use history from him proving that not only had he been potioned over the last year but in his sixth year at Hogwarts as well. He put copies of the documentation along with a couple of strands of hair in his Gringotts' vault and packaged up the original ready to file with the Aurors if it happened again. He knew that even the accusation would irrevocably harm the whole family and he wasn't willing to do that if he didn't have to do it to keep himself safe.

-o0o-

Needless to say Ginny did not take well to the broken engagement. She sent him howlers almost hourly alternately berating him and begging him to come back and renegotiate their betrothal. Molly also sent several haranguing him for his ingratitude breaking the engagement after she'd treated him like a son.

When the daily prophet arrived with the news of his broken engagement headlining the front page he was inundated by letters, howlers from most of the Weasleys and Ginny's friends, and offers of 'comfort' from various women along with betrothal contract offers from numerous heads of pureblood houses. Harry was amused to see some of the marriage contracts were for the same girls who had sent him the howlers. He looked through the contract offers eliminating anyone who supported Voldemort and the pureblood cause, anyone who didn't have a father or brother living, and the contracts that demanded control of his houses be passed to his pureblood wife or any contracts where the bride was more than 10 years older than him or still a child. Unfortunately, that was all of them and Harry sighed. He wondered if he would have better luck meeting a woman who met his requirements overseas where Voldemort hadn't had as much of an impact. Gabriella had invited him to visit her in France but she still had a crush on the boy who lived, and didn't have any brother's either.

The knowledge that he'd been dosed long term with love and lust potions geared to Ginny and the fact that he really hadn't been attracted to any other woman in years strengthened Harry's suspicions that he might be gay. Harry sighed, he'd asked Ron and Hermione to help him compile a list of possible witches who met all of the criteria he wanted but none of them particularly appealed to him and he didn't have the heart to begin courting any of them.

-o0o-

It was several days before Harry was willing to try masturbating again after it hurt so much last time. Part of him wanted to put it off even longer, he didn't want to risk the agony of having his balls feel like he'd set them on fire again, but he was also still a teenage boy who couldn't imagine life without being able relieve stress and pleasure that way ever again and was already getting antsy. So he decided to give it a try opening the magazine to a photo spread that looked nothing like Malfoy hoping that it wasn't the other models similarity to his old school rival that had turned him on last time. It wasn't. He opened the magazine the sales clerk had recommended to him blushing when he saw the photos. This wasn't just nude pictures but a gay magazine. After he got over his embarrassment he realised he was seriously turned on by the sight of two young men kissing and hugging. They didn't make him feel vaguely uneasy the way seeing a guy snog a girl did. He was definitely gay.

He groaned as he came. It did hurt a bit but not enough to totally kill his enjoyment and as he came down from the euphoria he felt a slight ache in his testicles but nothing like the debilitating pain last time. Smiling in relief he ignored the pain relieving potions that would knock him out in favour of a couple of paracetamol. If he was moving to the muggle world it was time to start living like a muggle again, he decided rolling over to sleep.

-o0o-

Harry returned to work the next day and was annoyed to find Ginny Weasley waiting at his desk.

"Who let her in?" he asked his fellow Aurors.

"I did. She said she was your fiancé" one of the new Auror trainees said.

"And did you supervise her while she was at my desk?" Harry asked coldly.

"Yes I could see her from my desk, she's your fiancé what's the problem?" asked the trainee nervously.

"I don't have a fiancé as everyone who's seen the front page of 'The Prophet', 'The Quibbler', 'Witch Weekly' or any other publication in the wizarding press would know. The end of our engagement was front page news all last week. Secondly, it wouldn't matter who she was, civilians, even wives are not permitted back in the offices" Harry said furiously. "Thirdly by leaving her unsupervised you have compromised any investigations I might have had information about on my desk which might have resulted in a violent criminal being released to hurt more victims, and if that happened the new victims' injuries would have been your fault."

"I'm sorry… I didn't realise…" the trainee stammered upset at being scolded by his idol.

"Get him out of here" Harry said shaking his head. "And make him reread the rulebook."

He approached his desk grateful that after a week away all his cases had been reassigned and his desk cleared.

"Hello Harry" Ginny said flirtatiously.

"What are you doing here Miss Weasley?" Harry asked keeping his distance.

"I came to finalise the wedding arrangements. You need to meet with Daddy to sign the new betrothal agreement and the final fitting for your robes is on Thursday and I've booked you a haircut the Tuesday before the wedding" Ginny declared bossily as if reinstating the betrothal was a foregone conclusion.

"Ginny I'm not going to marry you. Our betrothal agreement was declared null and void for good reason and that has been accepted by your head of house" Harry said patiently. "Now I have work to do Ginny, can I have someone show you out" Harry said firmly taking her arm and leading her towards the front entrance.

"You can't just kick me out. I'm your fiancé" Ginny yelled.

"You are not and never again will be my fiancé." Harry repeated.

"I will sue you for breach of promise" Ginny shrieked.

"Ginny your father agreed to void the contract" Harry said tiredly. "Now if you won't leave peacefully I will have you thrown out"

Harry walked her to the entrance and then stood and made a statement. "This woman is not my fiancé, she is not to be allowed entrance to the Auror offices again, nor am I to be called if she asks for me."

"Harry" Ginny whined. "You know this is only a temporary problem we'll sort it out in time for the wedding."

"I'm not going to change my mind Ginny, our engagement and our relationship is over" Harry said gesturing for a pair of trainees to escort her from the office before tiredly walking away from her.

He attempted to get back into the routine of working and was allocated some new cases and brought up to speed on one of the cases he'd been working on before being cursed. He was visited during the day by Percy who took offence at the broken betrothal. "How could you do this to our family? Don't you know the harm it will do to all our reputations?" Percy demanded.

"It had nothing to do with your family. The betrothal was voided by both Heads of house for irreconcilable differences. There was no blame laid on the Weasley family" Harry argued.

"It's in all the papers that Ginny was rejected by the boy-who-lived. Everyone will think she's done something wrong" Percy declared.

"The only thing potentially causing any damage to the respect of your family is Ginny's refusal to accept the end of our relationship without making a scene" Harry retorted getting to his feet. "And to be honest, she's showing everyone exactly why I don't want to marry her. Between her temper and her inability to listen to anything that disagrees with what Ginny wants, anyone married to your sister would be miserable."

Mrs Weasley accosted him when he was in Diagon Alley investigating a robbery the next day.

"Mrs Weasley please, I'm working. I need to interview the witnesses" Harry stated.

"Harry Potter don't you walk away from me" Molly screeched clutching his jacket.

"Mrs Weasley you're preventing me from doing my job. Please let go of me" Harry asked politely.

"Want me to arrest her" the trainee asked enthusiastically.

Harry shook his head minutely at the trainee. "Mrs Weasley release my arm now and let me complete my investigation or I will be forced to let Auror Williams arrest you" he said firmly.

"Don't you dare threaten me Harry Potter" Molly screeched.

"I'm not threatening you. You are interfering with an official auror investigation. If you do not cease to do so after now being warned twice I won't have any choice but to have you arrested" Harry said firmly. "And if the suspect gets away as a result of your accosting me then you will be charged as an accessory for his crimes."

-o0o-

Knowing the speed of gossip in the Auror corps, Harry was not surprised when after handing in his report of the afternoons interviews he was called in to speak with his boss.

"Auror Potter, your personal life got in the way of an investigation today, and it was just sheer luck no investigations were compromised yesterday. What are you going to do about it?" Senior Auror Robbards asked.

"With all due respect sir what happened with Ginny being at my desk was in no way my fault. I'm not the one who let her back there. It was a breach of security by a trainee. I've made the error very clear to all of them and I trust that they won't do it again. And nothing's going to satisfy Molly Weasley except me marrying her daughter which isn't going to happen. Even then that wouldn't prevent a similar situation from occurring next time Ginny and I had a major disagreement' Harry said frustrated.

Robbards chuckled "She would be a mother-in-law to reckon with that's for sure. I don't blame you for backing out of that situation."

"Ginny is frighteningly like her" Harry replied.

"Then why did it take you so long to come to your senses? I always thought you were smarter than that Potter" Robbards said offering him a drink.

"Off the record sir?" Harry asked nonverbally declining the drink.

"Sure if that's the way you want it" Robbards said warily.

"I have long term evidence of love potions in my system" Harry stated.

"Am I to take it you don't want to press charges?" Robbards asked surprised.

"No Sir, I'm the head of a most noble and most ancient house, charges of this nature would ruin the whole family" Harry replied. "Her brothers don't deserve that."

"Then that's your leverage to get the Weasley woman to leave you alone" Robbards said smiling cunningly.

"Thanks for the suggestion. I'll talk to Arthur Weasley about it. Hopefully he can control his wife and daughter. But I don't have any proof who gave me the potions." Harry said doubtfully.

"Just the threat of an investigation should be enough to make any sane person back off" Robbards reassured him.

"That's the problem I'm not entirely sure Ginny is sane when it comes to me" Harry said dryly.

"If you can't get them to back off them maybe you should consider an overseas posting" Robbards suggested. "You're muggle raised aren't you? Have you worked with MI-7 before? They want someone in Washington DC to liaise with the various federal agencies there. It's only part time but this might be good for you to consider anyway he said handing Harry an appointment card. I want you to meet with these people tomorrow, there'll be some training required but they have positions for Aurors here in Britain and overseas. This could be a good step for you Potter."

"I've done quite a bit of work for them on and off over the past two years. Thank you sir." Harry said recognising the dismissal. He returned to his desk and struggled with writing to Arthur Weasley. After several attempts he realised he didn't want to commit this to parchment and went to speak to the head of the department of misuse of muggle artefacts.

-o0o-

"Have you got a minute Arthur?" he asked diffidently standing in the doorway. He hated to hurt the man who'd treated him like a son for so many years and he'd be devastated if he found out Arthur had known about the love potions.

"Harry come on in" Arthur said cheerfully. "How's your first couple of days back at work?"

"I wish I could say they were peaceful but the truth is I came close to having to officially caution two Weasleys" Harry replied hesitantly.

"What did the twins do? I thought they'd grown out of such shenanigans" Arthur said shaking his head ruefully.

"Not Fred and George, unfortunately, Ginny and Molly" Harry corrected.

"What happened?" Arthur said looking far more serious.

Harry pulled out his wand gesturing to the door, then with Arthur's permission cast several locking and anti-eavesdropping charms. "Ginny manipulated a trainee into leaving her alone at my desk using false pretences. If I hadn't been off sick for long enough to have my cases reassigned then she would have compromised several investigations and I would have had no choice but to have her arrested so she could be questioned under veritaserum and obliviated of any sensitive information. Then Molly accosted me in Diagon Alley while I was interviewing witnesses. I warned her several times that I was on official business but one of the trainees threatened to arrest her before she would let me go" Harry explained. "Robbards is furious and he's ordered they will be arrested next time they accost me."

"I'm sorry Harry. I'll talk to them both but I don't honestly know how much good it will do. Are you absolutely sure you cannot marry Ginny?"

"Yes I'm sure. There's something else you need to know. While I was at St Mungo's after being injured the healers did a long term potion scan on my hair. Apparently I've been exposed to large doses of a level two love potion over the last eighteen months and once before a couple of years ago for several months, as well as lust and fertility potions recently" Harry said. "I'm not trying to threaten you Arthur but if they keep harassing me to reinstate the betrothal then eventually they will do something where I'll have no choice but to arrest them and it will come out." He looked at his former future father-in-law beseechingly, begging him to understand and reign in his family.

"No doubt you could arrest them over this already? If you had evidence" Arthur said.

"I have enough evidence" Harry confirmed. "The love potions were geared to Ginny both times, and she doesn't have the skill to brew them by herself" Harry said tiredly. "I have also sent Hermione to have the tests too. With the length of her hair they will be able to go all the way back to her joining our world at eleven. If they find anything at all I will prosecute. I know you need to protect your family Arthur but I will protect myself if I need to and Hermione is family to me."

Arthur sighed "I know Harry and I can't blame you. I will talk with them tonight and make sure they understand the consequences of attacking you again."

"Thanks Arthur" Harry said making his exit.

-o0o-

Arthur called a family meeting as soon as she arrived home.

"What's the matter dear? Surely it can wait dinner's almost ready" Molly said.

"No it cannot wait, cast a stasis charm and come sit down" Arthur said. He went to the floo and called for Bill, Percy and the Twins to come through before collecting Ron and Ginny from their rooms.

"I received an unofficial complaint from the Aurors this afternoon" Arthur said.

"We didn't do it" the twins chimed in unison.

"What's going on Dad? Is there a threat against one of us?" Bill asked.

"No it seems both Ginevra and Molly broke the law to harass Lord Potter today, both were almost arrested for their actions by the Aurors. Harry prevented the arrests this time but it was made very clear to me that if they do it again he won't be allowed to intervene and they will be arrested and questioned under veritaserum to ascertain their motives. If that happens then they will also be asked about the use of love potions as Harry underwent a long term potion use scan when he was injured last week and the results were quite disturbing" Arthur said firmly.

"Is that why he broke the engagement?" Bill asked frowning.

"He didn't say but the timing suggests you're right" Arthur replied.

"How could you do such a thing?" Bill demanded turning to his little sister.

"You are to leave Harry alone while he's working. No visits, no approaching him in the street and no more howlers" Arthur said firmly. "Promise me now Ginny"

"You can't stop me from visiting my fiancé. We're getting married in less than three weeks and there's still so much to do" Ginny replied.

"You haven't cancelled the wedding?" Arthur asked his wife. "The later you leave the cancellations the less of your deposits you will get back."

"We don't need to cancel the wedding this is all just a misunderstanding" Molly said determinedly.

Arthur sighed "Start cancelling the arrangements in the morning" he ordered. "I spoke to Harry today and I'm very sure he will not be dating Ginny again anytime soon let alone thinking about marrying her." He got up and went out to his shed needing a break.

"Don't worry Gin" Fred said "Harry's our business partner. We'll soon sort him out."

"He's pretty angry about how you reacted when he was hurt last week Gin. I can't say I blame him for getting cold feet about marrying a witch who didn't even care enough to ask him if he was alright when she found out he'd been cursed badly enough to be given two week's medical leave" Ron said. "He might come round eventually if you pick up your game. You're probably going to regret having to renegotiate the contract though."

"It was Harry that cancelled the initial contract he's the one who should be penalised in the new one" Percy stated.

"Yeah except it's Ginny that wants him to reconsider. He's not trying to renegotiate the contract" Ron said.

"He's said quite clearly to several people that he doesn't want a new contract with Ginny. And if he's telling the truth about the potions exposure you can bet the Aurors will investigate whether he's acting of his own free will if he reinstates his engagement" Hermione warned.

A/N: Thank you to ToTheStarButPickMagic, charm13insomnia, Bloody Gale Reaper, mithrilandtj, Rori Potter, Fae0306, Ace Trainer Jessie, Locket1, DS2010, Silvermane1, Hexal, BadassFanKickass, seiseme, yng2bhdls, linzi, chocoholic18, beulah2013, shadow7564, himeichigo69, Elina00, Nordens, Firehedgehog, kyzhart, mexchica228, 1megastar1, carverslily, Cyansan, evilelf25, LuckyNumber1, Sbgchan, dontfrogget, acherongoddess, terfa, , SerenityMoonlight, sherrilynn, Extra-ToTheStarButPickMagic, puparoo13, WhiteRose38, cldiva, Alec McDowell, Is-this-supposed-to-be-clever, FallenRoyal, Kamuitachi, lunarprincess87, .90, Malicia88, SueSmith52, everyread123, Zaurelie, Goddess Selene, Katerina-Walker, smd3926, Shire Fey and ChrisFender for your support.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or NCIS or any of their characters.

Harry was early for his appointment with the muggle secret service. Kingsley had reassured him originally that the people he was meeting knew all about the wizarding world and both the Voldemort wars so he could talk freely. He also said they did not know that the applicant was the same Harry Potter that defeated Voldemort. He had been allocated the interview based on his training scores and his record as an Auror since. He'd enjoyed the extra training they'd given him and the illusion of anonymity of working with a mostly muggle and squib organization and was eager to do more work for them.

"Ah Potter. I'm surprised Kingsley recommended you. Aren't you about to get married? Surely your wife doesn't want her husband posted overseas for an indefinite period of time. Would she be prepared to go with you?" Sir Geoffrey asked curiously.

"Actually Sir I've called off the wedding and this would be a very good time for me to disappear for a while" Harry replied.

"Is the problem irreconcilable?" the officer asked searchingly.

"Yes sir, it is. I don't know how much you know about love potions but it now appears the whole relationship was a fabrication. She and her family are very upset about the cancellation of the wedding and are likely to make things difficult" Harry admitted. "I'd like to be away from the fall out."

"You're aware there really isn't enough work for you to be a full time liaison?" Sir Geoffrey asked. "And that this posting would be for a minimum of five years."

"Yes Sir. I've trained to fight a war since I was fourteen. I enjoy the investigation side of my work with the Aurors but my fame here in England often interferes with that. I want to take some time to decide what I really want to do next. The income from my trust fund will support me" Harry said calmly.

"Very well then this is the dossier of all the American agencies and the agents in them that we know are aware of the wizarding world" Sir Geoffrey said handing over a fat file envelope. "And this is the American interpretation of the statute of secrecy and their laws. You'll find several laws differ greatly to your world here in Britain."

"Thank you sir" I'll read them carefully" Harry said.

"Will you use your own name in America or do you want us to establish an identity for you?" Sir Geoffrey asked.

"Wouldn't it be better to use my own name? Some of these agencies have the resources to see through the best false identities" Harry said.

"Yes it probably would from that point of view. However, we're still not entirely sure we got all of the bastards that supported that dark lord you offed, and I wouldn't want to expose you. One of the advantages to leaving England for the time being would be increased personal freedom."

An idea struck Harry. "I could use my official name" he said enthusiastically. "Nobody calls me that, even my school records listed me as Harry James Potter."

"And what is your birth name?" Sir Geoffrey asked amused.

"My legal name and titles are Lord Hadrian James Potter-Black- Evander-Peverell-Gryffindor-Slytherin, the 10th Baron Evander, 24th Viscount Peverell, 17th Duke of Gryffindor and the 20th Earl of Slytherin" Harry said rolling his eyes.

Sir Geoffrey Hobbs had spent his entire life working in the intelligence service and prided himself that after more than forty years experience nothing could surprise him anymore. "How many of those titles are valid in the real world?" he asked after several minutes to adjust his impressions of the agent in front of him.

"Baron Evander certainly is. The Dukedom and Earldom were once but I inherited the Earldom through right of magic not blood so your world wouldn't recognise me as the rightful heir even if the title is still valid.

"When was the title Duke of Gryffindor appointed?"

"The first Duke was ennobled by King Athelstan in the year 936" Harry replied "which is why I think it may no longer be valid, it's so long ago."

"You're probably right but I can find out, if you want to use the title" Sir Geoffrey offered.

"No the name Gryffindor is famous in the wizarding world. I had thought to use the name Hadrian Black or Hadrian Evander."

"I will have comprehensive ID and background history established for both those names, and a totally separate ID for you to leave the country with" Sir Geoffrey said smiling.

"When am I leaving?" Harry asked.

"I will book the flights today and let you know. International flight to New York under the name John Browning where you will clear customs and then catch a domestic flight to Washington in a different name. You do have appropriate clothing for the mundane world?"

"No not really. I do have some muggle clothes but they're not appropriate for my liaison position. They are all very old and worn, all my recent shopping has been in the wizarding world" Harry said apologetically.

"That would be fine to travel in. You would look like another tourist backpacker" Sir Geoffrey reassured him.

"Good because I think I might be being followed, going muggle shopping would alert them there's something going on" Harry said.

"Were you followed here?" Sir Geoffrey asked.

"No I couldn't have been, I came via the Minister's private floo" Harry reassured him.

"Well I'll let you know via the minister of your flight arrangements. Will you be able to get to the airport undetected."

"Yes I'll have to leave my wand behind and get a new one in America to ensure I won't be tracked" Harry said with a pang It would feel like leaving part of himself behind. He realised he would also need to leave his beloved invisibility cloak behind and was grateful that he hadn't bonded with the post owl he'd reluctantly bought to replace Hedwig who would also need to be released from their bond.

"Very well aim to leave in Friday. One of my people will get the address of a wand shop in Washington DC to you later today. I don't need to warn you to take every precaution to hide your preparations" Sir Geoffrey said dismissively.

Harry got to his feet. "Thank you Sir" he said exiting the office. He thought it was a little sad how excited he was to be leaving the country. England was his home, the home he'd fought and died for but he couldn't wait to get away from the fame, the Weasleys and everyone's expectations of him. America was much more open minded about sexuality according to the Healer he'd seen when he was cursed and the fact that they published books on sexual spells for gay wizards seemed proof of that. Maybe he would find somewhere that he could be himself, or somewhere to find out who being himself really meant.

-o0o-

Harry started packing by pulling everything out of his trunk and checking the trunk itself for tracking charms. Cursing he found several. Casting again to identify the castors he found the magical signatures of Sirius Black, Albus Dumbledore, Molly Weasley, Ginny Weasley and Hermione Granger. He also found an alerting spell weaved through many of the charms which would alert the castors if the spells were removed. Quickly cancelling his detection spells he carried the trunk into the room he used to share with Ron as a teenager and left it there. Luckily they'd never replaced the portrait of Phineus Black after the war. Harry searched through the attic finding an old trunk with strong locking wards. It took quite some time for Harry to remove the wards and replace them with his own, but he eventually managed it. He emptied out the trunk finding that it had last been used by a Hogwarts student. A seventh year with an interest in potions from the contents. Harry wondered why the trunk had never been unpacked until he opened one of the books to find the name Regulus Black. Sirius' brother had been killed within weeks of completing his final year. He tested it thoroughly for curses and tracking charms, cast the identification spell to make sure none of them had been cast by the Weasleys and once they'd all been removed, dragged it down to his room and started sorting through his clothes and books testing each object for charms before storing it either in his new trunk or throwing it in his old trunk if it tested positive.

Feeling tired and grubby he went to have a shower forgetting to remove the charms he'd placed on his glasses to see magic. Yawning he stripped off only to gasp in horror when his glasses alerted him to multiple tracking charms placed on his hair, and not only the hair on the back of his head he realised but also the hairs on his legs, chest and groin area. Cursing he applied the magical signature detection charm and found Albus' and Molly's signatures on his head and Ginny's on his chest and pubic hair. Which frightened him because he could not remember ever being naked in her presence. Groaning he turned off the water and quickly cast three different chastity revealing charms relieved when they all came up positive for magical and biological virginity. He pulled his clothes back on and searched his potion books for the hair growth potion sighing in relief when he found it in his fourth year text. It was a relatively easy potion to make and one which he already had all of the ingredients in stasis for left over from the days Snape used the potions lab to brew potions for the order. Snape had warded the room of course but the house wards made it impossible to ward any room against the head of house Black.

He carefully made the potion and bottled it before returning to the bathroom. He showered and fell into bed exhausted knowing that it would be safer to wait until the night before he left to remove the tracking charms from his body otherwise someone might notice and apply a fresh lot without him noticing. His whole body itched from the knowledge of the tracking charms on his person though he knew realistically that it was just psychological, some of them must have been there for years.

-o0o-

He headed in to work the next morning like nothing had changed waiting until his regular catch up with Auror Robbards to let him know he was being reassigned and would be finishing Thursday.

"That's not much notice" Robbards grumbled.

"Orders from MI7 and the Minister. They want it kept as quiet as possible. There was an attempt on my life last month and the Weasleys are creating too much interference for me to do my job effectively or live a normal life" Harry explained. "I was considering resigning. I just want to get away from it all and this sounds like the perfect opportunity."

"So the order to keep your leaving under wraps has come down from Kingsley. I'll report that you've called in sick on Friday and wait to reassign your cases on the Monday. What have you got open at the moment?"

They spent the next twenty minutes discussing cases and who's skills would be most useful on each before being interrupted by the front receptionists. "Excuse me Sir but Auror Potter's fiancé is here, she says there's a family emergency."

"I don't have a fiancé" Harry said irritated.

"Yes Sir we know, the other receptionist tried to tell her that but she just started sobbing and wailing. Her brother insists she needs to see you"

"If this is another attempt to manipulate me I want you to have them arrested" Harry muttered to his boss.

"I found tracking charms cast by that witch and her mother on nearly everything I own, including my Auror robes."

"Let's hear what they've got to say" Robbards said frowning.

"Harry" Ginny threw herself at him sobbing hysterically.

"Ginny calm down and tell me what's wrong" Harry said rolling his eyes. He looked around the room and was surprised to see Ron.

Ginny was still mumbling incoherently between sobs. "Can you tell me what she's so upset about Ron?" Harry asked.

Instead of answering Ron walked towards him and punched him in the face. Harry was unable to defend himself with Ginny's arms wrapped around his arms.

"Security" Robbards yelled taking the redhead young man into custody. "You're under arrest for assaulting an Auror" he snapped forcing Ron to his knees and applying magic suppressing cuffs.

Auror's poured into the entrance hall. Robbards gestured to two of the juniors, "take this man down to the holding cells" he ordered. He turned to where Ginny was still holding onto Harry as if her life depended on it. "Miss I need you to let my Auror go" he said firmly.

Ginny gave no sign of having heard him.

"Miss my Auror needs medical attention you need to let him go now" he barked.

She still ignored him.

"Ginevra Weasley if you do not let Harry go NOW. I will have you arrested" he yelled before stepping in to pull her away from Harry.

"Auror Potter present to the infirmary" he ordered. "And stay there."

"Yes Sir" Harry replied walking out of the room.

That alerted Ginny and she began yelling for him to come back.

The healer had quickly mended Harry's face and he had been given clearance to leave when Robbards entered the infirmary.

"Mr Ronald Weasley stated that he hit you because you called off your engagement and refused to reinstate it even after being told that your fiancé Ginevra Weasley was expecting your baby" Robbards told him.

"I am prepared to swear on my magic that I never had sex with Ginevra Weasley" Harry replied.

"Please don't" Robbards said panicking. "After what you told me of the potions used against you, there is the possibility that you could have been potioned into it and obliviated of the fact afterwards."

"So what can I do? I could swear on my magic that I had no knowledge of a child prior to him hitting me and no memory of having had sex with Ginevra Weasley" Harry offered.

"Ginevra was still in custody. We had a healer examine her and no pregnancy was detected but it may not be in the first twenty four hours after conception. Is it possible that you are missing any time in the last twenty four hours, that they could have obliviated you?"

"No I was in the office or at MI7 all day and floo'd directly from MI7 to my home which is warded against all Weasleys" Harry said thoughtfully.

"Is there anyone who does have access to the house who could be working with them? Your friend Miss Granger or a member of the order of the phoenix?"

"Hermione has access to my wards but I'm sure she wouldn't do such a thing" Harry said.

"I hope you are right. Is there any way to check?" Robbards asked.

"Kreacher" Harry called.

"Yes Master Harry" Kreacher popped in and said.

"Can you verify for me that nobody other than me entered my home in the last forty-eight hours and that I was never removed from the house without my knowledge?" Harry requested.

"No one has come to the house" Kreacher confirmed. "Miss Granger called you on the floo just after eight, but was told you were at work and did not come through."

Harry sighed in relief.

"Kreacher, have you ever collected blood or semen from Harry for anyone, or seen anyone else collecting blood or semen?" Robbards asked.

"No Sir's I'se not let anyone steal blood or magic from Harry Potters" Kreacher replied.

"What do you want done with the Weasleys?" Robbards asked.

"I don't want Ron charged. Can you make sure he knows the truth before letting him go?" Harry asked.

"Of course" Robbards agreed. "Unfortunately we have only Ron's word that Ginny was claiming to be pregnant, she never said it herself so we can't hold her on making false claims to trick you into reinstating the betrothal contract. Unless you're ready to press charges for the potions use we're going to have to let her go."

"Is there a way to hold her until after Friday?" Harry asked.

"Only if we hold her brother too. We could charge her as an accessory to the assault but if you let him go you have to drop charges on both of them" Robbards replied.

Harry sighed. "I get off at five, can you hold them until five fifteen then let them both go making sure they both know that Ginny is not and never was pregnant with my child. I'll write to Arthur, letting him know that this is their final warning. That you have the potioning evidence and are only holding off on it at my request but that if they try anything else you will prosecute them to the full extent of the law including charging Ginevra for attempted line theft. I doubt we could get a conviction for that but the whole family's reputation would be ruined."

"I'll call in and talk to Arthur myself. Put the fear of God into him in the hope he can control his family" Robbards offered.

-o0o-

After the ruckus at the office on Wednesday Kingsley and Robbards could see the extent the Weasleys were prepared to go to force Harry into marrying Ginevra they decided it would be in his best interest to use a time turner to allow him time to get out of the country before he was missed. So Harry spent his first version of Friday investigating a minor case in full view of most of Diagon Alley under the watchful eyes of several trusted Aurors.

Fred approached him while he was on the Alley, stopping beyond reaching distance and holding his empty hands out so he wouldn't be perceived a threat.

"Fred" Harry acknowledged.

"Harry, partner, I have to ask is there any way Ginny can make amends? She really loves you and she's torn up about the fight you had" Fred asked.

"Is that what she told you?" Harry asked cynically. "Finding out she was potioning me and that she didn't want to have children is more than a simple disagreement. So no there is no way on earth I would willingly marry your sister. I want a wife I can trust."

Fred nodded. "I'm sorry to hear that" he said.

"I'll understand if you wanted to end our partnership. I'll have the goblins draw up the papers" Harry offered.

"No mate we've been friends long before you started dating Ginny. Your money's good with us" Fred replied. "Just, for your own good, I wouldn't come around for a while."

Harry nodded. "The Aurors have orders to arrest any Weasley that attacks me" he told his old quidditch teammate.

Harry returned home emotionally exhausted. It was hard to leave all his friends without being able to say goodbye. He explained the situation to Kreacher and ensured that he would not come upstairs then retreated to the seldom used third floor and turned back a whole day to relive Thursday night.

Bracing himself after casting the strongest numbing charms he knew, Harry cast depilatory charms over his entire body removing every single strand of hair. He checked himself carefully to make sure he'd removed all of the charmed hair then got into the shower and scrubbed himself raw with the scrubbing brush to remove any trace of skin which may have been affected by the charms. He cursed to himself when he realised that his nails were also considered dead cells and could hold tracking charms. Luckily they were clear as he hadn't been looking forward to pulling them all off and trying to heal his right hand with his wand in the wrong hand. He swallowed the hair growth potion and prepared himself for several hours of itching as his hair grew back.

The rub of his clothes was horrible so thankful that he had ordered Kreacher to stay down in the kitchen and that nobody could get through the wards, he cast his strongest warming charms on the room and stripped off roaming around naked as he finished closing up the house to leave the next day. Before going to bed he cast the magic sight charm on his glasses again and checked that all the tracking charms had all been successfully removed.

Remembering his decision to use his real name from now on he practised calling himself Hadrian, wondering if his parents had ever used that name and which of them had nicknamed him Harry. Sirius hadn't called him Hadrian but then he rarely called him Harry either calling him mostly Pup or occasionally James so that was no indication. Remus had called him Harry but Hadrian rather thought that was because that's what he'd heard his friends calling him when they met.

He woke early and shaved off the bushy beard and trimmed his hair a little before using his limited metamorph ability to experiment with styles until he found something he liked, taking advantage of the fading of his scar to have it shorter than it had ever been before. He tried to transfigure Dudley's cast offs into something respectable but the fabric was too worn to hold the magic for long enough so he resigned himself to looking like a vagabond until he could go shopping in America. He apparated to Kings Cross and caught the underground to Paddington then the Heathrow Express arriving far too early as he hadn't been sure how long it would take. He went through check in as soon as he could feeling safer once he was in of the part of the airport that required a passport and ticket, having heard from Kingsley that this part of the airport had been warded against apparition. He took a seat but couldn't help looking around anxiously, he was nearly away and he couldn't bear it if he was caught now.

A/N: Thank you to Lizzie Snape-Malfoy, DS2010, ToThe,StarButPickMagic, linzi, Sakura Lisel, xDarklightx, DS2010, bluestorm28, acherongoddess, Rori Potter, Silvermane1, Fae0306, Firehedgehog, lillysmj, Sakura Lisel, Locket1, buterflypuss, lisatp66, FIREBLISSFEATHER, P-Webes, Elgariam, DavidBrookes, Chile of Darkness, cullen1775, TheGirlofTigers, , Extra-ToTheStarButPickMagic, lea-leax1, LightAurora, lillysmj, theUnseenSilence, 5, crazybluewings, kristenjones, Blood and Sun, Saishi55, Shadwyn, RavenclawQueen02, champthy, izzywizzyme, EbonyMidnight, Gemini no Vanou, mordicus18, Lilmspayne, dinawen, ignoreme-imaduck, YaoiProfessorYuki, jully123, willc0180, wolfdancer87, Disaray, Scossiechick, lazycrazykitten, Woef, CosmicLunaAngel, bigtedy2, CauldronCalamity, moasan, Dilligas762, dryary2a, Elistone, Stelliger, , Castiel-.-Helvisek and jot52 for your support.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, NCIS or any of either of their characters.

Timothy McGee finished the early morning book signing which was the last of the appearances on his book tour gratefully and gathered his luggage to head to the airport. He'd enjoyed the tour, managing to fit in quite a bit of sightseeing between the book signings though he'd found sightseeing wasn't as much fun without a companion. The signings themselves had mostly gone well and it was gratifying to know his books were well received outside of the USA as well. His publisher had reported a significant upswing in sales in the UK since he'd arrived so the tour had been successful from their point of view also. That meant they'd want him to tour again with the next book. Tim wasn't against the idea but hoped he would have a significant other he could persuade to come with him next time, or if he timed it between semesters maybe his sister would like to come. He wouldn't mind coming back there was lots of things in England he'd still like to visit and the people were more polite than he'd found at book signings in the US, not to mention he found the various British accents intriguing and sexy, and the freedom of being so far away from NCIS and anyone he knew allowed him some freedom to enjoy talking to these men with the sexy accents without too much concern for appearances.

-o0o-

Tim arrived at the airport early having anticipated possible trouble with travelling with a sidearm when he wasn't in the country on official business. The security guard at the gate however had miraculously heard of NCIS and waived him straight through without incident. Not however without attracting the attention of a young man watching the entrance anxiously.

Suspecting he was merely waiting for a travelling companion Tim merely nodded to the man and helped himself to complimentary coffee before taking a seat.

He noticed the man was now alternating between checking for new arrivals and watching him curiously, if he'd been working he would almost call it suspiciously. He started to subtly watch the young man in return and was soon rewarded by him blushing and looking away.

Eventually the flight was called and Tim was surprised by the fleeting expression that crossed the young man's face as he jumped up. 'Relief?' So he wasn't waiting for a travelling companion but watching for followers.

The young man hurried to the front of the queue and Tim put him out of his mind answering a call from his sister before boarding.

Tim arrived at his seat and found himself next to the young man that had intrigued him in the airport. "Hello" he said trying to be friendly.

"Um Hi" Harry said liking the look of the slightly overweight man, there was something amiable about him that reminded him a bit of his friend Neville.

"It looks like we'll be neighbours for the next few hours. I'm Tim" he introduced himself.

"Hadrian" the young man replied with a smile, hoping he remembered to answer to it if Tim used his name.

"I get motion sick if I try to read or watch the TV screen while flying but feel free to tell me to shut up if you don't want to talk" Tim said.

"I've never flown in an aeroplane before but I'm not prone to motion sickness, and I'm a bit too keyed up to read at the moment to be honest" Hadrian replied smiling.

Tim noticed that the man still seemed hyper-vigilant. "Are you nervous about flying?"

"No I'm looking forward to the flight" Hadrian answered enthusiasitcally. "You'll think me stupid but I can't sit still. Almost like a little kid. I've never been out of the UK before."

Tim laughed, amused to find his suspicions right when instead of tensing up Hadrian actually relaxed as soon as the plane left the ground.

"Forgive my mentioning it but you seem afraid of being followed or something?" Tim asked hesitantly.

"Not followed, prevented from leaving. I can relax now til we get to New York and if no-one's waiting there I can disappear. They'll have trouble tracking me after that."

"Are you on the run from the law?" Tim asked concerned. The young man didn't seem like a criminal but Tim had been fooled before.

Hadrian laughed. "No I actually work in law enforcement. I took down a terrorist organisation while back and recently there have been some retaliatory attacks. My director wants me out of the country for a while til things cool off. The government wouldn't spring for actual witness protection so they transferred me instead. My exfiancé and her family however don't understand the need for me to leave, and were insisting that I stay and patch things up" Hadrian said deciding to trust the friendly man beside him. He'd become rather good at reading people over the years and his recent training with the British intelligence agency had given him the confidence to trust his instincts.

"I'm a LEO myself" Tim replied showing his badge.

"NCIS, that's something to do with the American navy right?" Hadrian asked.

"Yes though I'm surprised you'd know about it" Tim replied pleased at the partial recognition.

Hadrian pulled out his own Auror badge and handed it over knowing Tim would see the mugglized version. "NCIS is on the list of agencies I've been approved to consult with" he replied stretching the truth a little. He had done consulting work like this all over the world in the year following the war helping to round up the death eaters that managed to escape after the final battle and would continue to do so if the need arose again but it would have been just as easy to remain in London. He also highly doubted that any of the Death Eaters would attempt to join the navy or hijack a ship. The technology would be beyond them for a start.

"MI-7. I've never heard of it" Tim commented apologetically noticing that the badge did have all the secret identifiers to authenticate it to other law enforcement. He hated that when LEOs said that about NCIS.

Hadrian didn't take offence. "I wouldn't have expected you to and I'm afraid I can't explain further without clearance" he said apologetically. "I honestly don't expect much consulting work from any of the American agencies. My area of expertise is rather narrow. They've made me a consultant because I will be available and so I have the credentials to call for help if I need to, not because there is an identified need for my services."

"I'm surprised you even have an area of expertise at your age. You don't even look old enough to be a trained agent" Tim said nonjudgementally.

"Special circumstances" Hadrian replied vaguely "but I am older than I look."

"You'd be a great agent to use if we ever had to infiltrate a High School" Tim mentioned casually.

Hadrian shuddered "Except that I went to a private very alternative type boarding school so I don't have much experience of what's normal school behaviour and what's not" he argued. Having grown up in a war zone very few of his friends, even those a couple of years younger than Harry consistently behaved like normal teenagers so Harry's impression of normal was biased by his cousin Dudley and his friends.

"Never mind if you're only a consultant you can't be sent undercover anyway" Tim said smiling at his new friend's reaction.

"Thank Merlin" Hadrian said feelingly.

"If you only get an occasional consultant request what are you going to do with the rest of your time? Not to mention to earn a living?" Tim asked.

Hadrian shrugged "I'll probably do the tourist thing for a while before I decide. It's not like I have a burning need to earn a living. My parent's left me financially comfortable."

Tim was surprised at this seeing the clothing the young man was wearing but let the matter drop.

Tim and Hadrian spent the entire seven and a half hours of the flight in conversation. They moved from discussing unusual cases to the rest of their lives. They're upbringings were miles apart but they were both well read (the Little Whinging library had been a haven for the young Harry and surprisingly well stocked with adult literature though Harry had quickly exhausted their supply of children's books) and Tim was pleasantly surprised that they could discuss books without their discussion tainted by movie references.

They separated to go through customs and met back up in the waiting lounge for a domestic flight to Washington.

"I would have thought you'd be better off finding some other way to Washington. It would be easy enough to check the passenger logs. You could have bought a train or bus ticket without giving your name" Tim said.

Hadrian grinned "Yes but I'm in the unique situation of having more than one legal ID and the people looking for me won't know what names to look for (or expect him to have travelled muggle style or know how to search a passenger log. Even Hermione for all her intelligence had all but abandoned the muggle world at the age of seventeen and devoted all her research since the war to spell creation).

"Is Hadrian your real name?" Tim asked smiling.

"It is actually though it's not the name either of the plane tickets were in. And everyone at home always called me Harry, even my school records say Harry for some reason so I figure it's safe enough to start using Hadrian as my name.

Tim laughed. "I won't ask the rest of your names then. You must be fairly well thought of for them to have constructed more than one cover name for you." 'Or the need to go into hiding without entering official witness protection must have been serious' he thought concernedly.

They landed in New York and Tim was surprised to see he didn't have any checked luggage. He coached him through the easiest way to get through customs and they agreed to meet up on the other side to grab a bite to eat before their next planes.

After checking he had the time Tim led Hadrian to one of the few nice restaurants at the airport. "I don't know about you but I hate processed food. After the meal on the plane I need some real food. My treat" he offered.

"I can afford to go Dutch" Hadrian replied. "I managed to change plenty of money at Heathrow."

They had a nice dinner and the added sense of privacy of the dimly lit booths inspired more personal conversation than previously. Hadrian told Tim a little about growing up with his relatives and how much he'd loved boarding school and his best mate' had made him feel included in his family, and how much it hurt to find out that that acceptance and inclusion had a hidden price he couldn't pay. Tim shared how it was growing up a Navy brat, always failing to live up to his father's impossible standards. How much it hurt when he realised his baby sister was loved and accepted unconditionally. They also discussed more unusual cases they'd been involved in and the conflict that had come up among their teams. Tim described working for the hard headed Leroy Jethro Gibbs and Hadrian mentioned how difficult it had been to overcome his workmates preconceived ideas of him. At the end of the three hour layover they both knew they'd made a lifelong friend.

Tim laughed when after checking in their luggage they found themselves outside the same boarding gate. "I'm in 46B, let me guess you've got 46A or 46C?"

"46A" Hadrian confirmed laughing. "I just hope I actually get to see something out the window this time."

"Do I need to change what name I'm calling you?" Tim asked.

"No just don't introduce me to people" Hadrian replied.

"Can I ask, is the DC area your final destination?" Tim asked.

Hadrian shrugged. "It is for the moment. It's somewhere nobody who knows me would think to look. I normally avoid politics like the plague and I'm allergic to politicians. I doubt I want to actually live in the city itself though."

"So suburbia or a country town?" Tim asked.

"I'm going to take some time and look around. I don't want too small a town, somewhere big enough that strangers don't attract too much attention" Hadrian replied.

"Well if I give you my phone number will you keep in touch?" Tim asked.

"I'd like to" Hadrian said smiling.

-o0o-

"Can you recommend a decent motel?" Hadrian asked as they disembarked the plane.

Tim looked at Hadrian assessingly. He'd enjoyed the young man's company so much he'd almost forgotten his initial impression. "Please don't take offence but I don't think any motel you would enjoy staying at would accept you dressed as you are" he said carefully.

Hadrian blushed. "I guess I should go shopping before I try to check in somewhere" he said tiredly. He'd spent all his time since the defeat of Voldemort in the wizarding world and the only muggle clothes he owned without tracking charms were the worst of his old clothes from the Dursley's that he'd stuffed into a box in the attic at Grimmauld Place. He hadn't wanted to arouse suspicions by shopping for new clothes before he left and being used to ignoring what he wore hadn't thought about the impression his clothes would make. He knew he could transfigure his clothing into something more respectable but it wouldn't last long and he couldn't explain that to his new friend.

Tim weighed up his decision before offering "I would think you'd be too tired to even consider purchasing a new wardrobe today. I know I am ready to fall into bed. I don't have a spare bed but would you like to crash on my couch and shop tomorrow?"

"If you're sure, that'd be great" Hadrian replied smiling. "I don't suppose you want to help me shop too. I've never bought clothes for myself before."

Tim laughed "I can believe that looking at you. Where did you get these clothes they're ready to fall apart and they've obviously never fit? You don't look like you could have lost that amount of weight."

"No, they were my cousin's. He's always been the size of a baby killer whale" Hadrian joked.

"Can I ask why you're wearing them then?" Tim asked hesitantly.

Hadrian shrugged. "I grew up living with them and wearing his cast offs so I've never paid much attention to clothing. My uniform would have drawn too much attention and I didn't want to change my routine before I left. Shopping or owning new clothes would have been noticed. (As would using magic to transfigure his clothing if the Weasleys had convinced the Aurors to look for him. Harry was well aware that he was regarded as their saviour and some people believed that they had the right to know his every move. He'd been astonished to find out that the trace had never been removed from his wand when he turned seventeen and when he confronted his boss in the DMLE and the Minister they'd refused to change it saying that the public needed to know their saviour was safe. He'd attempted to purchase another wand only to find that his new wand also contained the trace. Therefore, his precious wand and the spare one he'd purchased were in his bedroom at Grimmauld place along with every magical thing he owned including his beloved broom, his father's invisibility cloak and all the photographs of his parents.)

"You were that closely watched?" Tim asked surprised.

"They expected me to man up and apologise to their precious daughter who couldn't possibly have done anything wrong and reinstate my engagement. They haven't even cancelled the wedding plans after I broke off the engagement a week ago. We were due to be married in two weeks and I started contacting the guests once I realised they weren't going to do it. They were that sure they could guilt me into changing my mind and going through with the wedding" Hadrian said dejectedly. "You wouldn't believe the number of lectures I've been forced to sit through. And you've got to realise that these people used to be my family. They know me better than anyone else so they would notice any changes. I normally wear my uniform every day so my casual clothes didn't matter until now."

"Wearing a uniform off duty didn't make any sense to Tim but he couldn't detect any deception in his new friend's voice or face so he just nodded.

-o0o-

Molly arrived home and dispiritedly began cooking dinner. She'd spent a difficult day cancelling all of the wedding arrangements and she'd had to do it on her own because Ginny had flatly refused to cancel the wedding at all. Even now Molly hadn't been able to cancel the wedding robes order because it was almost finished and the dressmakers needed paying for the bespoke work. Madam Malkin had offered to try to sell the dress robes but warned her that there would be a limited number of potential customers due to the sizing. "Mr Potter's robes are too short for an adult and even the wealthiest families aren't likely to spend that much on robes for a teenager" she'd said bluntly.

"They would if they knew they'd been designed for Harry Potter" Molly suggested hopefully.

"I would need Mr Potter to contact me in person to give permission to use his name" Madam Malkin said determinedly, she refused to use the saviour of the wizarding world that way.

The wedding cake maker smirkingly told her that she hadn't started assembling the cake since she'd seen the advertisement of the broken engagement in the prophet and that the deposit had been returned to Mr Potter's vault since it was his key originally used.

The caterer had laughed. "I expected you in a week ago" he said refunding half the deposit.

"If you knew of the cancelation a week ago surely I should get more money back" Molly said angrily.

"I haven't managed to secure an alternate booking for that day. You're lucky you're getting any galleons back seeing nobody is willing to plan any sort of event on what would have been The-Man-Who-Conquered's wedding day" the caterer said grumpily.

-o0o-

Arthur arrived home to find Ron in the garden. "What's up, where's Hermione tonight?"

"I told her not to come, Mum's banging around in the kitchen in a temper" Ron replied.

"She and Ginny went to cancel the wedding arrangements today" Arthur explained.

"Ginny didn't go anywhere, she was out on her broom most of the afternoon, and she's out with friends for dinner" Ron replied.

'Then I'd better go and check the arrangements were actually cancelled, or I'll have to take the morning off to do it myself' Arthur thought to himself.

Luckily for him he didn't have to ask his wife. Molly started ranting about the rudeness she'd faced that day as soon as he walked in the door. "That boy better not expect me to make the arrangements again next time" she finished.

Arthur winced. "He won't" he said quietly. "We'll be lucky if we're even invited to his wedding after the last few weeks."

Molly whirled around and stared at her husband. "You really think he's going to marry somebody else?"

"Not anytime soon. I know he hasn't been cheating on our daughter but you must remember how many betrothal offers he got after the war, and we know he wants children of his own" Arthur replied.

"But this is all just a misunderstanding. He and Ginny are meant to be together" Molly protested.

"If they were meant to be together then she wouldn't have needed to potion him into loving her" Arthur said bluntly. "Not to mention how important trust is to Harry. He will never trust her enough to marry her now No man is going to want to have to spend the rest of his life casting revealing charms over everything he eats even in his own home."

Molly stared at her husband in shock. "It was just a mild attraction potion" she protested.

"No Molly, that's what you gave him when he was sixteen, which I was incredibly angry and embarrassed about when I read the report but Ginny's been feeding him a class two Love Potion and a Lust Potion. We are incredibly lucky that she wasn't arrested. She could have ruined us all."

Molly started to shake as the true facts of the last few weeks hit her hard. "What are we going to do?" she asked.

"The best thing to do at the moment is leave him alone like he's asked us to."

-o0o-

Hadrian discretely cast a wandless silencing charm around the camp mattress once Tim had gone to sleep. The older man had been incredibly generous sharing his home with a virtual stranger. As a law enforcement officer he should have known better too. Harry wondered whether it was a result of the mild trust me charms he'd cast on himself before he'd left for the airport to help him get through security at Heathrow. It should've worn off before he got on the plane but maybe the other man was super sensitive to the after effects of the spell. He felt guilty taking advantage of it if that was the case but seeing as he didn't intend to harm the man in anyway and had offered to pay his way he shrugged it off. That was no reason to inflict his nightmares on a stranger though, particularly when he couldn't explain them to a muggle.

A/N: Thank you to linzi, Firehedgehog, mithrilandtj, ToTheStarButPickMagic, DS2010, Locket1, xDarklightx, lgbtlovechick, buterflypuss, Rori Potter, Silvermane1, acherongoddess, Fae0306, 25, charm13insomnia, MysticStarfall, Cosmic Heart, ZombieAlex200, Dusk Lilly, KaterinaBells, primzrose, paskinmath, 654, mekakun, Mickieskids, jot52, ace1014, Halfway To Reality, Addictedtoreading452, witchwyrm, Nightingale's Voice, Monki91, ElizaAthena, Avid Reader0907, EmofairyandRainbowfairy, lillisa34, Twiki25000, Brisana151, Darkdawnomega, MurderMysteryof1996, angeldust48, yaoilovekassy, Lady Rosencrantz, dadysprinces1994, Moon Kingdom, hailey9699, stkatie00, .1108, werewolfgirl11, mordicus18, Yananikki, power is knowledge, Haley-Belle, Lia Nefer, mana44570, malu31, emergency70, magdon, Phaedra Coopers, Scribitur Ad Narrandum, Yokiryuu, MataHari1989, naho potter black, catkin12, Moon Kingdom, , magicatheart, naiika, oghenefegoreneziakpor, unfortunateblessings, blackgirl663, billi24, bmorri00, annie2013, forestreject, nightwizard27, Schlaubi, Dragonsrose4, Baysen, Lennox0323, Individual Narrative, Roversmad, RODJ, sezeny, RvynDancyr and LooonyLei for your support.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or NCIS or any of their characters.

Hadrian slept surprisingly well though the time difference had him awake before dawn. Feeling well rested and anticipating his new friend would have the same problem sleeping, he got up and started to cook breakfast. There was limited foodstuffs in the cupboard but he managed to make hash browns and pancakes that wouldn't arouse too much suspicion though he had to transfigure some of the ingredients. Part of him worried that he was overstepping his boundaries but Tim had admitted the day before that he wasn't much of a cook and mostly lived on takeout and frozen meals and he wanted to do something to repay Tim's generosity in inviting him to stay.  
"Hey smells great" Tim said stumbling into the kitchen and turning on the coffee maker.  
"I hope you don't mind me making free with your kitchen" Harry said shyly.  
"No I can't cook anything that smells this good so you've saved yourself from my poor attempts. I honestly didn't think I had this much food available. I usually just grab something on my way to work. It's a bad habit I know but I work pretty insane hours."  
"Are you working today?" Harry asked.  
"No not til Monday. I didn't know how jet lagged I'd be and my boss doesn't accept anything but 100% effort at all times" Tim replied. "I need to call my Mom today, and buy some groceries. Other than that I'm free to help you get a new wardrobe and start looking for a place to stay. I can't believe you moved continents with nothing but carry on luggage."  
"I wanted a complete new start and most of my clothes other than my uniform were bought for me by my ex-fiancé to meet her idea of how she wanted me to look. But I've never had much in the way of possessions. I lived solely out of my school trunk for eight years" Harry said shrugging.  
"What are you looking for? Do you plan on staying in a long stay motel or do you want a furnished apartment? And do you have a budget in mind? Or a neighbourhood?"  
"Umm" Harry replied looking overwhelmed. "An apartment I think. I like the privacy of not having the staff come in and out. And given that you're the only person in Washington I know maybe somewhere near here so we can visit. I won't make a total nuisance of myself I swear."  
"I'm enjoying your company and with the hours I work I'm not here enough for you to become a nuisance" Tim said smiling. "There might even be an apartment in this building if you're willing to buy your own furniture and you don't mind the stairs."  
Harry grinned. "I lived on the tenth floor at boarding school. I'm used to stairs."  
"Surely you would have used the elevator?" Tim said.  
Hogwarts was over a thousand years old. There was no elevator."  
"It must have been a huge school" Tim commented. "Was the building heritage protected?"  
"No there really wasn't anywhere near enough students to fill the castle, I think it was much bigger school in the past but there were about three hundred students rattling around in a huge drafty old Scottish castle that could easily accommodate ten times that many. It had its drawbacks but it was beautiful" Harry said smiling at the memory.  
"Okay then stairs are no problem. I'll talk to the building super" Tim offered. "Do you have any references?"  
"References? Like for a job?" Harry asked.  
"Rental references. I'm guessing you've never rented before?" Tim clarified. "Or just general character references."  
"I can contact my agency and get some" Harry said nodding.  
"Let's organise clothes first. The super won't rent to you dressed like that even if you had a reference from the Queen herself. You can stay with me for another couple of days" Tim replied.  
Harry took his bag to the bathroom and tried some simple wandless reparo and colour change charms on his clothes which wasn't any more successful than it had been the day before. He showered quickly and pulling on his clothes. He brushed his teeth the muggle way leaving the brush and toothpaste on the sink.  
"Bathroom's all yours" he called going out to pack up his bed.

"What sort of clothes do you like?" Tim asked.  
"I'll need a whole new wardrobe so jeans T-shirts, jumpers, work slacks and shirts and ties" Harry replied. "And some sort of jacket and coat" he added as he felt the breeze as they left the building.  
"Let's start with something to impress the super" Tim suggested.  
"And the warm coat" Harry said wishing he could wandlessly cast an effective warming charm.  
Tim laughed. "In afraid you're not going to be very impressed with my car heating either" he said.  
"Wow" Harry whistled when he saw the silver porsche boxter. "It's almost worth freezing."  
"Almost" Tim agreed laughing.

-o0o-

They had a great time shopping, though Tim gasped in horror as he got a glimpse of the scars marring Hadrian's well muscled back and shoulders, some of which could be nothing but marks from a belt.  
"That looks like shrapnel" Tim said pointing to his shoulder. "Did you grow up in a war zone or was it an IRA bombing? It looks several years old. You couldn't have been in law enforcement that long." He tried to keep his gaze clinical instead of openly admiring the sexy body.  
Since it was the wound Harry had got from the horntail's tail in fourth year he was glad Tim had come up with his own interpretation of the scarring.

"I'm afraid that's classified, I can't talk about it" Harry replied apologetically.

Tim understood and dropped the subject.  
Tim started with the cheaper shops and Harry was happy with this having never placed much value on designer brands though he did venture through several expensive men's tailors before finding the jacket he wanted, then bought a duck down coat at an outdoor store along with thermal underwear, paying the exorbitant prices for the warmest things they had without hesitation.  
"Shall we get some lunch before we tackle the rest" Tim suggested wanting to draw out his time with his new friend.  
"I've just spent more time shopping for clothes than I have in my entire life put together" Harry exclaimed disbelievingly "what more could there be?"  
"Shoes and groceries, and you'll want a phone that works here" Tim said laughing.

"We'll I'm starving so lunch sounds great. Where do you want to go?" Harry asked.

"What are you in the mood for?" Tim asked.

"I'll eat almost anything. You choose" Harry said enjoying the interactions.

"You eat Japanese?" Tim asked.

"I've never tried it but I'm game" Harry said grinning.

They sat talking over lunch exchanging stories from their childhoods, Tim talking about his overly strict father and how stressed his mother always was when his father was home, how they all breathed a sigh of relief when he was at sea and about the various countries he'd lived in. In return Harry had mentioned a little about living with the Dursleys, and more about school and the Weasleys' chaotic household carefully avoiding any mention of magic. They talked until they noticed the staff starting to lay the tables for dinner. "We'd better get out of here" Harry said.

"Yeah you need shoes and then we need to talk to the super. I can't believe time got away from us" Tim agreed wondering how it was that Hadrian was so easy to talk to. This was the second day they'd spent hours talking to each other. They hit the shoe store, though Hadrian knew he could buy more comfortable dress shoes in the wizarding world, and stopped for groceries before heading back to the apartment complex.

Tim called the apartment super but couldn't get an answer. "You're welcome to stay here again and I'll try contact the super in the morning" he said tiredly. "Or I could drive you to the nearest motel?"

"I'd like to stay. The blow up bed was fine. I slept really well but can I ask why you don't have a couch?" Harry replied curiously.

"Not enough room! I get more use out of my writing desk and my computer stuff than I would a couch. I keep the blow up bed for when my sister is in town" Tim replied. "My Mom and my sister tell me to get a bigger place but I'm hardly ever here. It seems a waste to have more space just for me."

Harry nodded. "Yeah I know what you mean. This is cosy. I had this dingy old house I'd inherited from my godfather. It was a stupid amount of space just for me. I offered all my friends room but only Hermione stayed regularly. Most of the houses around it had been converted into apartments, but I just couldn't let it go. I was trying to do it up a bit in my spare time but I never had enough time to tackle the big jobs. I should sell it if I'm going to stay here."

"There's no hurry to make that decision unless you need the money. I'd imagine you'd pay quite a sum in rates for a house that size, how far out of London is it.

"About thirty five minutes' walk from Kings Cross station" Harry replied. "It's in one of the poorer neighbourhoods but the area's starting to show signs of renewal so it would be a good time to do the house up and sell or rent it out."

"Wow it must be worth a fortune" Tim said.

Hadrian shrugged, the monetary value of the house had never occurred to him. The place was so dark and dingy he didn't really like living there, it was just too difficult to buy another home in the wizarding world without the press finding out and a sit was technically peacetime he wouldn't have been able to ward a new home as effectively as Grimmauld Place had been warded over the years.

They moved around the tiny kitchen cooking dinner together getting in each other's way but both secretly felt surprisingly comfortable with the closeness of the other getting in their personal space as they reached past each other to access the fridge and sink. Harry stopped short at one stage, apologising as he realised he was ordering Tim around as if he was in charge but Tim just laughed and said that given his cooking skills it was just as well someone else was in charge.

"Have you ever played a RPG?" Tim asked.

"What's that?" Hadrian asked confused.

"A role playing game" Tim explained.

"No" Harry said hesitantly. "How do you play?"

"On the computer, there's hundreds of different on line games" Tim said.

Harry sighed. He knew that admitting he didn't know how to use a computer would raise doubts about his honesty to Tim. Computers were widely used in all forms of muggle law enforcement. "I've never played any computer games, I don't own a computer. Computers and I really don't mix, the static electricity in my body tends to make them not work for long around me. I have the same problem with most technology. I'm not sure how long this phone's going to last" he confessed.

"That's why you wanted the cheapest phone you could get even though you were prepared to pay for decent quality with everything else" Tim understood. "But there's no way I'm letting you near my computer set up" Tim said hastily looking around for something else to do, he didn't have the energy to go out but it was too early to sleep. "Maybe we could watch a movie?"

Harry looked around. "I don't see a TV" he said only just realising that he hadn't noticed before now.

Tim blushed. "Um it's in the bedroom, there wasn't room anywhere else. I promise it's not a come on. You can drag a chair in if you don't feel comfortable sitting on the bed."

Harry blushed. "Okay let's watch a movie" he agreed.

"What genre do you like?" Tim asked.

"I don't have a preference. There was no television at my school and no movie theatre close by and my aunt and uncle wouldn't let me watch theirs. Since then I haven't had much free time so I haven't seen many movies or get into the habit of watching tellie" Harry said. "Whatever you like is fine. I probably won't have seen it."

"What age did you go to boarding school?" Tim asked.

"Eleven til seventeen" Hadrian replied.

"That must have been hard. I'd hate to have been away from my Mom at eleven" Tim replied.

"My friend Hermione struggled with it for the first few months, particularly as she had difficulty making friends" Hadrian replied. "Ron had three older brothers already at school and had heard all about it, so he seemed to manage well and I was glad to be away from my relatives. Getting used to the regimentation was easy my Aunt and Uncle were quite strict about what free time I had."

"Did it make your teachers seem more human because you were around them all the time?"

"Not really, they ate up at the high table and I never took much notice of them other than that they were supervising the meal so things didn't get out of hand. Our head of house Professor McGonagall said our house would be like a family but she didn't have much to do with us unless there was trouble. I've heard that the other heads of houses were more involved but McGonagall was deputy headmistress as well as teaching full time."

"So there weren't extra staff on hand to look after you at night?" Tim asked surprised.

"No, it was mostly the prefects' job to keep control in the common room and dormitories" Hadrian replied. "And the other seventh years would shut us down pretty quickly if we got rowdy while they were trying to study.

"It was hard enough going away to college just before I turned sixteen" Tim commented.

""That's because you were the only one" Hadrian said. "There was a whole class of us to learn together."

"There were a whole class of freshman" Tim replied. "It's just that most of them were eighteen or older so I got my own room. I thought it was great at the time but in hindsight I hid in my room and didn't meet people."

"There were five of us in the dorm so there was next to no privacy" Hadrian said. "They had these super old fashioned beds with curtains though to give some illusion of privacy, pity they couldn't muffle the snoring and we'd mostly leave them open in the winter so the fire would keep us warm. In first year anyway."

Tim shuddered. "That sounds like hell or school camp which is pretty much the same thing at night."

"I wouldn't know, never been on school camp" Hadrian replied laughing, "but it really wasn't hell once you got used to it."

"I'll Take your word for it" Tim said dubiously holding up a DVD. "Have you seen the Lord of the Rings series?"

"No but I loved the books, do the movies do them credit?" Harry asked enthusiastically.

"I think they do" Tim replied.

"Then let's watch the first one" Harry said. He followed Tim into his bedroom and they sat on opposite sides of Tim's king size bed.

Tim put the movie on and sat careful not to touch the young man beside him not wanting to scare off his new friend.

Harry enjoyed the movie but found himself dropping off to sleep during the start of the second. Tim thought about waking the young man and sending him off to his own bed but in the end decided to pretend he hadn't noticed him falling asleep until the end of the movie. Unfortunately Harry had a nightmare as the movie was ending. Tim placed a hand out to wake him up and Harry woke violently shoving him away and falling off the bed.

"Hadrian it's me Tim. You're safe here" Tim said soothingly.

"Tim?" Harry asked confused for a moment.

"Yes I'm Tim McGee, you are in my apartment in Silver Spring in Maryland, just outside Washington DC" Tim said gently knowing that waking up in a strange place after a nightmare could be disorienting.

"Tim" Harry confirmed he knew him. "Why did you shove me off the bed?" he asked, worried he'd behaved inappropriately in his sleep.

"I didn't" Tim said bemusedly. "You were having a nightmare and you threw yourself off the bed when I tried to wake you. Are you okay?"

Harry got up slowly checking his body for injuries. He suspected he was going to have a sore bum for a couple of days but nothing other than that. "I'm fine" he said, hoping his new friend accepted it better than Hermione would have.

Tim didn't believe him for a moment but he supposed he was physically fine.

"I should go to bed" Harry said getting back up and heading out to the lounge and his camp mattress.

"Are you sure you want to be alone?" Tim asked.

Harry looked up surprised. "I'm fine" he said automatically.

"That was a pretty violent nightmare. Don't be embarrassed we've all had them. There's always one case that gets to you" Tim said. "There's no weakness in needing support."

"You need your sleep to get over the jetlag" Hadrian said concerned.

"I know, but I hate trying to get back to sleep on my own after a nightmare" Tim said. "I'm not working tomorrow so it's fine. Come back and lie down. I'll try to be more careful if I have to wake you up again."

Hadrian gratefully settled back into the warmth of the bed, flinching slightly when Tim put his hand on his shoulder.

"Sorry" Tim said withdrawing and turning his back.

"No it was fine, I just wasn't expecting it" Hadrian replied. He turned to face Tim's back and nervously put his own hand on Tim's shoulder.

Tim turned back and looked at Hadrian.

"Thank you" Hadrian said softly.

-o0o-

One of the trainee Aurors knocked nervously on Head Auror Robbards door after lunch on Monday. "You asked us to inform you if Miss Weasley came to see Potter" he stammered.

Robbards sighed and threw his quill back onto his blotter. "As if I don't have more important things to do."

"Sorry Sir" the trainee said.

"I'm not frustrated with you, shall we go and see what the deceitful harpie wants today. Do you know the conception confirmation spell? The version that produces a written transcript?"

"Yes Sir" the Auror blurted surprised.

"See if you can cast it on Miss Weasley while I'm talking to her" Robbards ordered.

"Why Sir? We cast it last week and it was negative" the trainee asked curiously.

"The spell can fail to read a pregnancy that's less than 48 hours old. Potter's been gone 62 hours now so if the spell comes back negative today we'll have proof that the baby isn't Potter's if she tried to pull that stunt again" Robbards explained.

"Isn't there a spell to test for paternity?"

"Yes of course but it needs to be cast directly on the baby and most honourable men want to be married before the wedding to ensure that the babe's legitimate if there's a good chance it will be theirs. Particularly where there's old family inheritances to consider."

"Miss Weasley can I help you?" Robbards announced his presence speaking with authority.

"I came to see Harry" Ginny said.

"Mr Potter is away on assignment" Robbards said repressively. "You were told not to approach him at work."

"He's my fiancé. When will he be back?" Ginny demanded.

"You are not entitled to know the details of Auror Potter's assignments and investigations Miss Weasley" Robbards stated firmly.

"I'm his fiancé" Ginny argued stamping her foot.

You are not a family member or Mr Potter's nominated next of kin. Therefore, I cannot reveal his whereabouts. In fact, Mr Potter left instructions that you are to be arrested for fraud if you continue to claim to be his fiancé" Robbards countered. "I'm asking you to leave peacefully and not return. Do not send the other members of your family. They are not Potter's next of kin either. This is your last warning Miss Weasley, please take it seriously, for your family's sake if not your own."

Ginny shrieked and stormed out turning at the doorway. "Tell him he's going to regret this" she said.

"Be very careful Miss Weasley impugning the reputation of an Auror is a serious matter" Robbards warned before turning to the trainee questioningly.

"She is not pregnant" Wilkes said. "I also cast several revealing charms, she's not under the imperious or mind control spells though there's one spell acting on her I didn't recognise."

Robbards looked at the Arithmancy. "It's a secrecy or security spell of some kind. It's very similar to the Fidelius."

"Given how vindictive the bitch is I wouldn't be surprised if Potter did spell her so she couldn't talk about his secrets" Wilkes said.

"I'd say he's cast it on his home so she can't invade it or send the reporters to camp out on his doorstep and harass him except I still remember where he lived" Robbards said thoughtfully.

A/N: Thank you to xDarklightx, Lizzie Snape-Malfoy, ToTheStarButPickMagic, DS2010, Rori Potter, buterflypuss, acherongoddess, Lientjuhh, Locket1, Silvermane1, Guest, Fae0306, gabrieljuarezl, julschristine975, tarynrpotter, shadowrunner83, Dreaming24'7, maya884, Lucina Lutia, Cosmos89, writer2000z, anthea tronchard step, Mytryk, KawaiSara89, Let'sTalkSPN, Shaggy37, Elruwen the Blessed, larissa8, Justdeath72, K'S Room of Requirement, krismontiel48, Afrodity, ThePizzaManToughtMe, Itty bitty evil ringy of doom, bluesz, lsmatyca, JavBK, Dia Regan, Tiniii25, Lunaconspiracy365, PreciousJewelLake, caramon1992, Somnus Ecru, smallzscience, missceltika, mumimeanjudy, Jully Reed, Neferthy, NicoleBearThomas, eleventyspiders, meiscof, dianemalfoy, mahive, MoonbeamDomination, il2swim57, Kane the girl, melissa. , chefyan08, HowlingRain, Gilnara, MaddyCatty, nogoalielikeme, Olivia Grace the Fox, One-who-must-read, Hiedra, Kyreewolf, KrisiMwahz, LongWayHome, Miyu Amamyia, moonkey2790, NoirLuxure and Kai3anime for your support.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or NCIS or any of their characters.

The building superintendent was away for the weekend and wouldn't be back until Monday so Hadrian was still staying with Tim when he got up for work early Monday morning. They'd sat watching movies until they fell asleep every night. Hadrian had made an effort to return to the blow up bed each night but seeing as he'd also woken up with nightmares every night as well Tim had encouraged him to stay in the king size bed where he could easily wake him as needed.

Hadrian stirred and began breakfast while Tim was in the shower cooking Turkey bacon to make BLT sandwiches since he didn't know whether Tim would have time to sit down and eat or needed something he could eat while driving. He then went to get dressed so he'd be ready to leave when Tim was.

"You don't have to leave" Tim said surprised. "I trust you not to rob me blind or set the place on fire. I'm more likely to do that myself trying to cook now you've shown me how much better home cooking can be."

Hadrian laughed. "I need to go and meet my new bosses today anyway" he said. "I thought if you didn't mind I could travel in to DC with you and make my way from there."

"Sure let me just grab you a spare key in case you get back before me. I'll be home around six if we don't get a case, if we do it could be as late as midnight."

"Should I go and see the super when I get back tonight?" Hadrian asked.

"No, he's the suspicious sort so unless you can get some good American rental references it would be better if I come and vouch for you. Hopefully if we get a case it will be local. I'll try to call you tonight about eight if I'm not home by then."

"Okay. I'll try not to kill my phone before then" Hadrian joked.

"I can call the landline phone if I can't get through on yours" Tim said laughing.

"Are you sure you're okay with me staying here if you're away. I don't mind getting a motel room somewhere" Hadrian asked. He remembered how annoyed he'd been when acquaintances had assumed he'd let them stay with him because he had such a huge house and had invited Ron, Hermione, Neville and Luna to stay. Fortunately for him the wards had made his unwelcome guests soon want to move out without knowing why.

"Of course I'm sure I don't mind you being there" Tim replied. "My flat's never felt so much like home as it has this week. It's been great having you here. Stop talking about finding a motel, I want you to make yourself at home until we get you a flat of your own." Tim thought about suggesting that Hadrian ask for a six month lease just until his own lease was up and they could find a bigger place to share after that, but failed to find the courage to say it.

Left on his own near the Navy Yard Hadrian quickly oriented himself on the map, looked around and found a safe place to apparate from in future, and caught the train into the centre of DC to look for the magical shopping district his handlers at MI7 had described. He needed a new wand as soon as possible. He'd left his old one back in England afraid it would be tracked and felt naked without one. It was only that he enjoyed Tim's friendship so much and the fact they'd been entirely in the muggle world that enabled him to put off visiting the wand maker as long as he had.

Finding the place he was amazed by how much like a normal shopping mall it looked other than the goods on sale. The only building in the place that looked like it needed magic to keep it standing upright was Gringotts. He withdrew some money, surprised again by the fact American wizards primarily used dollars not Galleons though most shops on the alley would accept either and headed for the wand shop.

'Wand makers must all be a little odd' Hadrian thought to himself watching the elderly man almost dancing around his shop excitedly. An hour later he had a new wand and left with a sigh of relief grateful for the wand but also glad to be finished with the overly cheerful kook. He spent the morning looking around the alley, stocking up on some general healing potions and browsing the bookstore before having an early lunch.

-o0o-

Harry had left three letters with Kingsley that the older man had promised he would send out a couple of days after Harry left explaining his absence so his best friends wouldn't think he'd been kidnapped or attacked again.

Dear Hermione

I have accepted a new job with MI7 as a consultant looking for Death Eaters that fled the country after the war. I left on Friday and I'll be based mostly overseas. I'm really sorry not to tell you this in person but my new bosses didn't want word to get out that I was going or what I'll be doing in case the fugitives are still in contact with sympathetic friends or family members that might warn them. I can't tell you where I'll be living but my estate manager is able to forward mail to me. Please don't tell the Weasleys that though. I'm not ready to hear from any of them, even Ron after what happened last week. I understand he has to support his sister. I just don't want him to be stuck in the middle. It'll be easier on him if he can't contact me. I'll miss you Hermione, but I'm looking forward to living somewhere I can hopefully walk down the street and talk to a girl without making the front page. I really can't blame Ginny for feeling insecure about that at times though she should have trusted me too.

I'll write when I get settled. I'm a little embarrassed that I'm letting Ginny drive me away from my home but really she's just the straw that broke the camel's back.

Love

Harry

Hermione was in tears by the time she finished reading. 'Come back for the wedding?' Harry made it sound like he was planning to be gone for years. She'd known he'd hated the fame and the constant gossip in 'The Daily Prophet' not to mention the need for security and constantly having to be on the lookout for attackers but she'd never thought he'd abandon England and all his friends to get away from it. This was Ginny's fault, if she'd left him alone he would have a girlfriend he could trust and be here enjoying the peace with the rest of them.

After receiving the letter, Hermione spent as little time with the Weasleys as she could without upsetting Ron. She also started avoiding parties where Ginny was likely to be though that wasn't much of a hardship. Ginny had been her best female friend at Hogwarts but they didn't have much in common since the end of the war. She threw herself into her work not realising that without Harry around to remind her she was neglecting her godson Teddy. She felt awkward with him anyway Harry was much better with small children than she was. Hermione had a sneaking suspicion that Tonks and Remus had made her godmother because they thought she would end up being with Harry. Or maybe they could see how wrong Ginny was for him and wanted to encourage his thoughts in another direction.

Andromeda Tonks also received a letter from Harry.

Dear Andi and Teddy,

I'm being sent overseas to work. Apparently I'm too much of a target to be an effective Auror here. I can't tell you where I'm going but as soon as I get settled I'll look into getting a regular return portkey so I can visit. In the meantime if you need to contact me my Gringotts manager can forward letters and messages to me though it might take a day or two. Please do not let anyone know you're still in contact with me. It will be safer for you both that way. I'm also trying to avoid the Weasleys, they haven't taken the ending of my engagement to Ginny very well.

Give Teddy a hug from me and tell him I love him.

Yours sincerely

Harry

Not taken well was an understatement' Andi thought ruefully. She'd run into Molly ranting about cancelling the wedding on Friday. She for one didn't blame Harry in the least for not wanting a mother in law like that. She was glad that even leaving the country Harry was planning to put the extra effort in to stay involved in her grandson's life. Giving Teddy a hug and a kiss she told him they were from his Uncle Harry who would try to visit soon.

Ron

Being sent away on urgent assignment.

All very hush hush.

Don't tell anyone I'm gone

Will write when I can

Harry

Ron was pissed. Harry got all the best assignments. He ignored the fact that Harry had also tested out of all the combat training, not by killing Voldemort but by beating all the instructors in one on one duels. Ron had been offered the same opportunity to test out but had been defeated in his second duel. Harry had then worked twice as hard as he needed to to complete all the rest of the training requirements in a single year and was therefore in the graduating class ahead of Ron. He also ignored the fact that if he had been offered the assignment, he wouldn't have wanted to leave Hermione or his family.

-o0o-

Hadrian anxiously made his way to the American Ministry of Magic for his one o'clock meeting with the Auror Captain Edmund Clancy. He knew that the British Aurors were deeply suspicious of anything coming out of the muggle run MI7 and was aware that the Americans hadn't asked for him to be posted there. He only hoped that they didn't resent him and couldn't help hoping that he wasn't so famous on this side of the pond and would be treated like any other Auror.

It turned out that management at least was happy to have him.

"Kingsley Shacklebolt's an old friend of mine, we met on a combined training exercise back before you lot closed yourself off from things like that when that idiot Fudge became minister" he said cheerfully. "He says good things about your skills though I really doubt you're going to have much to do chasing Death Eaters. This country's just too well integrated for them to get much of a following here."

"That's okay. I'm happy to be put to work anywhere you think I might be useful. Kingsley put me up for this as much because he wanted me to have the opportunity to be a normal Auror for a while as because of my familiarity with the Death Eaters and their methods" Hadrian replied.

"We work closely with mundane law enforcement here" Clancy said. "Do a lot of infiltration and undercover operations. Do you have much undercover experience? With as young as you look you'd be highly sought after."

Hadrian laughed. "Every man woman and child in the British wizarding world recognises me on sight and if I'm not seen for a week it makes the front page of 'The Prophet'. My bosses wouldn't even consider me for undercover no matter how good I was at disguising myself."

"Well that's one thing you need to learn. I've also taken the liberty of putting you into the cadet's law classes so you can learn how our laws and procedures differ from Britain's. And if you're really here for the long term I'd suggest enrolling in a mundane community college for a semester or two to learn more about the mundane world" Clancy said. In particular, they have some good courses on criminology, psychology and forensics that would also be useful in your career as an Auror.

Hadrian nodded. "I expect I have a lot to learn. I was also studying warding, runes and rituals privately before I came here and was hoping you could put me in touch with a teacher here. And I'm not sure I'd cope with college I was thinking about enrolling in high school to fill some of the gaps in my education. Hogwarts doesn't offer any mundane classes."

"That's a good idea" Clancy smiled, he liked it when young Aurors admitted their ignorance and wanted to continue learning, it spoke to a lack of the arrogance that he'd been afraid he'd find in Britain's most famous Auror.

They settled on a work schedule that suited and then Clancy took him over to the local high school to enrol. "This close to the base they have a lot of transfer students so you won't stand out. Did you have any mundane education?"

"Yeah I went to muggle primary until I went to Hogwarts at eleven. It wasn't the best experience and I wasn't allowed to do my best for various reasons. I also did most of my cousin's summer homework up until I turned seventeen, but I think he was mostly in remedial classes" Hadrian replied.

"We'll that's more than I expected" Clancy said.

"I have fake ID for you. What name do you want to use?"

"Hadrian Black" he replied. Clancy made the changes.

"Okay I think you'd pass for sixteen which won't make you too out of place if you don't test into Senior year but it will mean that you need to at least look like you have a guardian. So for the school paperwork I'm your uncle, you've just come to live with me but you've been living with my fool of a brother's ex and she moved around a lot and wasn't the best mother, so you haven't had much schooling. I don't mind pretending to be your guardian but I don't want to have to explain your lack of mundane education to child protective services" Clancy said. "It goes without saying that expect you to keep out of trouble."

Hadrian nodded pleased to have a flexible cover story ready.

He listened trying to hide his amusement as Clancy ranted to the school admissions officer before he was sent off to take his placement tests. "Just do your best Hadrian and don't be embarrassed. Remember your performance has nothing to do with your intelligence and everything to do with the substandard education you've received til now. Come back to my office when you're done."

Hadrian nodded at the reassurance though he knew it was more of a dig at the famous Hogwarts. American wizarding schools required students to keep up their mundane education as well as learning magic.

Hadrian dragged himself back to head Director Clancy's office after a gruelling day of academic embarrassment to receive his credentials and work schedule.

"Now I've tried not to schedule you during school hours" Clancy had told him. "Kingsley and that lot at MI7 did tell you this wasn't a full time position didn't they? We won't be paying for the hours you spend at high school or with your new runes teacher though you will be paid for the Auror classes highlighted on your schedule. I've included the entire Auror class schedules and you may sit in on any of the others in your own time."

"Yes Sir, he did. I'm financially independent so that's fine. I'm just glad I can be of some use. Thank you for your time today sir" Hadrian said tiredly apparating to an isolated place around the corner from Tim's apartment. I also have access to a time-turner. It is an old family heirloom that will let me turn back up to twelve hours a day so I can work without missing school if you need me."

-o0o-

Tim did catch a case though thankfully it was in Washington, he sent Hadrian a text message hoping that his first day was going well and telling him not to expect him for dinner.

Hadrian text back awkwardly that his day was going well and that he'd make something that could be easily reheated if he was hungry whenever he arrived home or frozen for another day.

Hadrian sighed as he put his phone down on the counter and began making a traditional Irish stew. It was time consuming and would keep him busy for the evening until Tim rang.

"Hey how's the case?" Hadrian asked.

"Dead petty officer it's starting to look like the husband did it" Tim replied.

Hadrian sighed. "The domestic cases are the worst" he commented.

"Yeah I agree. She loved and trusted this guy enough to marry him and everyone we've talked to has told us how in love they were and then this" Tim said. "We haven't got a motive other than the fact she recently inherited over half a million dollars but it doesn't look like anybody else had the opportunity."

"So what changed in their relationship? Or was killing her always his long term plan?" Hadrian asked.

"You think he may have been acting from the start?" Tim asked.

"Well if he could kill her then he was acting recently and if nobody noticed the change then it's possible. Is there a way he could know she would inherit the money? But maybe that's just me being cynical after realising my fiancé tried to marry me for the money." 'and the fame of being Mrs Harry Potter' he added silently.

"I'll look into it anyway" Tim replied. "It's going to be a long night. Thanks for the help. How was your first day?"

"It was fine. The director seems like a good guy but I've got a few classes to take to catch up on the American legal system."

"Let me know if you need some help with that" Tim offered.

"I will" Hadrian said gratefully.

"I've got to get back to work. I'll call you tomorrow if I don't see you before then. Sleep in the bed. I'll take the couch if I come home so I don't disturb you" Tim said.

"I couldn't take your bed you'll need all the rest you can get" Hadrian protested.

"I don't know that I'll make it home at all" Tim replied. "And I'd rather not risk forgetting you were there and tripping on the mattress and landing on top of you."

Hadrian laughed. "I'll sleep in the bed" he compromised. "So long as you come and join me if you get home. The bed's plenty big enough for both of us and we've already agreed we sleep well when we share."

"Okay but I've got to go before the boss catches me not working on the case" Tim agreed hurriedly.

"Night Tim" Hadrian replied. "Hope you catch the bastard."

Hadrian woke briefly when Tim stumbled in sometime just before two o'clock and watched silently as Tim shucked his clothes and fell into bed in his boxers falling asleep as his head hit the pillow. He shrugged and covered his friend in the doona before falling asleep again, hoping Tim wouldn't freak out when he woke up practically naked in bed with another man. He also resolved to look into what protections could be put onto a car without effecting performance or the ability for Tim to receive cell phone calls while driving. It worried him that Tim had driven home last night when he was so clearly exhausted and he couldn't even help by offering to drive him in this morning since he'd never bothered to learn to drive preferring magical forms of transport.

-o0o-

Hadrian woke early and spent a moment enjoying the feel of Tim's skin under his hands before he got out of bed feeling guilty. Tim trusted him and here he was thinking about how sexy he was and touching him while he slept. He showered quickly, taking care of his morning erection and had started breakfast by the time Tim's alarm went off.

Tim woke and stretched and blushed as he registered that he was only wearing his boxers. He quickly showered and dressed for work before leaving the bedroom.

"Morning Hadrian. I hope I didn't offend you falling into bed undressed last night. I honestly was too half asleep to even realise you were there" he said apologetically.

"I heard you come in and realised what must have happened" Hadrian said casually. "Do you have time to sit and eat this morning or am I making this into a sandwich?"

"Sandwich please" Tim said wincing as he saw the time. "Are you riding in with me again?"

"I think I should just to keep you awake" Hadrian pretended to joke as he efficiently turned breakfast into something that could easily be eaten with one hand.

"I'm awake now" Tim protested. "But you can drive if you're worried about it."

"Aren't you afraid I'll drive in the wrong side of the road?" Hadrian asked awed by the trust Tim had in him. He was well aware after the last few days how much Tim loved his Porsche.

Tim laughed. "If you say you're capable of driving then I'll trust you."

"I don't actually have a licence" Hadrian admitted adding that to his mental list of things to learn. "Living in inner city London I never needed to drive and heaven knows most of London was never designed with cars in mind."

Tim laughed again. "You're right about that" he said remembering some of the nightmare traffic conditions as roads narrowed between old buildings.

"Okay I'll drive and you can talk to me to keep me awake when I've done eating" Tim suggested.

"I think the Tabasco sauce on the eggs might keep you awake" Hadrian said grinning.

In spite of Hadrian's teasing there was very little tabasco sauce in Tim's sandwich and he found he enjoyed it. "I keep meaning to ask if you're allergic to any foods?" Hadrian said. "I figured I'm safe so long as I stick to things you've bought but if it would be good to know."

"Shellfish, I also have a minor lactose intolerance in large amounts" Tim replied.

"I noticed the special milk" Hadrian said. "Am I using too much cheese? I don't want to cause you stomach upsets when you're on a case."

"No it's been fine, it's really fresh milk that causes the most problems' Tim reassured him.

"Where do you want me to drop you?"

"Outside the Navy yard is fine. I'll walk to the railway station and catch the train. I don't need to be in as early as you" Hadrian said smiling. In truth he'd walk to an apparition spot in a secluded alley just before the train station and apparate out to Quantico. He didn't really need to travel into the city with Tim at all it would be quicker to just apparate from his apartment but he didn't want to make Tim suspicious and if they weren't living together then getting a ride to work was a good way to see Tim each morning and ensure his new friend ate a healthy breakfast.

A/N: Thank you to julschristine975, ToTheStarButPickMagic, DS2010, Mickieskidsm, acherongoddess, Silvermane1, Maben00, Merlenyn, NightWithMoon, Locket1, Aire5, linzi, Firehedgehog, charm13insomnia, annadriya, xDarklightx, Guest, Rori Potter, icyquest4, buterflypuss, Fae0306, Raven Nightlance, Womire001, royalchaos, I Growl For Fun, BrandyBELLE05, Sango252, piper-pants, AliceIvyRose, Inkwell Archive, mydestiny88, bookfan86, R3d R0s3, hardcoretwilighter1979, Hecate6385, Louie-Symon, teemango, LadyToro, amb6675, King of Fae, MaddBlake97, onidra, gingin1975, TrickTrack, aromdu, WolfTenshi, Straivers98, Topasheart, OlorinTheMaiar, Exoskin, iBeta, RushTogether67, Ice Night, haha19, kitty19835, sylpheel12, Heatherla15, biene-0589, ALLCYONE, Kimmia, Oceanangel46, lulu-20-07, ghoullish-reader, Sandwich Vision, cat187, anima comedentis and aesmith22 for your support.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or NCIS or any of their characters.

It took Tim and the team the rest of the day to confirm the husband's motive and bring him in for Gibbs to get him to confess in interrogation and Tim arrived home about ten o'clock ready to fall into bed again. This time though Hadrian was still up doing his reading for the government class he was taking at the high school.

"Hey there, have you eaten?" he asked putting aside his book.

"Too tired to eat" Tim replied.

"You'll sleep better if you eat something first. Go shower and I'll make you a snack you can eat in bed" Hadrian replied getting up to give Tim some privacy.

He waited until he heard the quiet squeak of the bed as Tim climbed in and returned with a chicken salad sandwich and a glass of lactose free milk with the flavourings tucked under his arm in case Tim wanted them.

"I'll just go set up the blow-up bed, then I'll be back to clean up" Hadrian said.

"Please don't, we've been sharing for days" Tim said tiredly. "The take down brought up some bad memories, there's a good chance you could return the favour and wake me up from my nightmares tonight. I'm sorry about last night."

Hadrian smiled sadly. "You know I'm here to help" he reaffirmed sitting on the bed. "Do you think it would help to talk about it?" he asked diffidently, remembering how much he hated when Hermione would pressure him to talk about whatever was bothering him.

"I'm trying not to think about it" Tim replied finishing his food.

"Okay" Hadrian replied unoffended, taking the plate into the kitchen and rinsing it before coming and climbing into bed.

"You can put the TV on, or the light if you want to read. They wouldn't bother me" Tim lied sleepily, yearning for the companionship enough to not want Hadrian to go into the other room.

"No I'm tired too" Hadrian replied hearing the unspoken plea and lying down and snuggling into the doona. He wasn't sleepy but he could always practice his occlumency until he was.

-o0o-

Tim introduced Hadrian to the building superintendent the next night. Hadrian didn't know whether to be glad that Tim apparently wanted him to live so close by and therefore continue their friendship or disappointed that Tim seemed to want him to move out into his own place. Reminding himself that Tim had never offered him a permanent place to stay and this introduction had been planned since he arrived, Hadrian set his mind to charming the superintendent. It turned out there were two apartments available in the complex. A two-bedroom ground floor apartment with a good three square meters of sadly neglected garden on the other side of the complex and a single bedroom two floors directly above Tim. It was odd he thought how two apartments identical in structure and wall colours could be so different. Tim's was cluttered and homey, warmly welcoming while this one empty of all furniture looked dingy and cold.

"Are we allowed to paint the walls?" Hadrian asked Tim quietly.

"Yes though if you don't paint the place back these colours when you leave he'll take the cost of repainting out of your bond. Most people don't bother" Tim replied.

"The place already needs painting" Hadrian argued.

"Yeah and the place could really use an elevator but upgrades like that cost money and the landlord only does just above the minimum to keep the tenants from moving out" Tim agreed. "You could photograph the walls as they are now and argue that you shouldn't have to pay for the apartment to be repainted again but I don't know if it'd work unless you chose fairly conservative colours. Of course the super mightn't even notice you've painted if you stick to neutrals."

"Yeah but just looking at these walls makes me want to paint them cheerful colours like crimson and gold" Hadrian replied felling a little homesick for the cosy and welcoming Gryffindor common room.

Tim laughed.

Though Hadrian could easily afford to pay the rent on the ground floor apartment he chose the one over Tim on the hope that it would be easier to keep up their friendship if they could still see each other occasionally in the stairwell.

Being closer would also allow him to cheat on his wards expanding the ill intent ward down to include Tim's apartment and all the others in their proximity though it was highly illegal to ward property you didn't own or lease.

Tim was secretly disappointed he hadn't asked if he wanted to share the two bedroom place, or at least had the spare room to offer Tim when he told him his lease was up, but figured Hadrian didn't know he didn't have a long term lease. However, he could also see the advantages of having his friend only two staircases away instead of on the other side of the courtyard.

-o0o-

Hadrian looked around the empty apartment not exactly eager to start cleaning and unpacking his shrunken furniture.

"You know what this means?" Tim asked teasingly.

"No what?" Hadrian asked hoping his new friend wasn't about to say goodbye.

Tim faked a fearful look and whispered in a dread voice "More shopping."

Hadrian cracked up laughing. "No, no anything but that" he moaned theatrically.

"Well if you want to spend your life sleeping on the floor under your coat instead of in a comfy bed…" Tim began.

"Definitely not" Hadrian said. "Where do I find a mattress like yours?"

"So it's my bed you're interested in not the company" Tim said teasingly.

"Well I'm not opposed to the company, but I didn't think I could buy you at a shopping centre" Hadrian said not entirely sure if he was flirting or teasing.

Tim laughed. "No but you know where to find me if you need me" he flirted back.

"That I do" Hadrian agreed laughing too.

"Do you want to shop tonight?" Tim asked.

Hadrian knew he had most of the furniture and all the kitchen utensils he needed shrunk in his stuff but he couldn't explain that to Tim. He wanted to buy a new bed anyway though, he'd never slept as well anywhere as in Tim's bed and while he knew it was mostly Tim's presence, the bed was more comfortable than his old one and if the memory of Tim's helped him sleep then it would be worth its weight in gold.

"We have work in the morning" he reminded Tim, knowing the older agent was still tired after the case they'd finished yesterday. "I can shop after that if you don't mind me spending another night on your spare bed."

"Of course you can stay" Tim said smiling. "You probably wouldn't get anything delivered tonight now anyway. But why are you moving back to the blow up bed?"

Hadrian smiled. "Do you fancy curry for dinner?" he asked. "I have a nice Rogan Josh recipe I'd like to try."

"Sounds good so long as you don't make it so hot it takes the top off my mouth." Tim replied.

"No I like my curry fairly mild. Come taste test as I'm cooking to make sure I don't make it too hot for you" Hadrian said heading out of his new apartment. "There's nothing more I can do here tonight unless you feel like scrubbing out cupboards."

Tim laughed and shook his head. "I'll leave that up to you."

-o0o-

The next evening Tim accompanied him to the shops, starting with the store Tim had bought his own bed. The store didn't have a mattress like Tim's in stock but Hadrian was content to put it on back order once Tim offered to let him stay with him until it arrived. Hadrian also ordered white goods because Tim would be suspicious if he didn't have a fridge and freezer though to be honest a stasis charm worked much better. He didn't bother buying a television though he'd enjoyed watching with Tim he didn't think it was something he wanted to do on his own. He did buy paint and painting equipment intending to spend the next weekend Tim was working painting his apartment, but didn't bother to buy lounge or dining furniture telling Tim he'd rather look around the second hand shops and get something with character rather than just picking up cheap furniture straight off.

He spent a couple of hours in his empty apartment the next day while Tim was working, setting outer perimeter wards to prevent anyone who wished him ill from entering the building his apartment was in. Because he was concentrating on Tim and Tim's safety while he set the wards he was sure anyone intending to hurt Tim would also be kept out by the wards. Being in a muggle area he could only use repelling wards but the upside of that was that there weren't likely to be any wizards in the area to attack him. He set a second layer of wards inside his apartment to prevent all forms of magical travel and all witches and wizards from entering though he added Teddy, Andi and Hermione to the list of those allowed access. He also cast multiple cleaning and reparo charms at the walls, doors and windows restoring them to pristine then cast colour change charms to match the paint he'd bought, making the whole apartment appear to have been freshly painted before donating the actual paint down at the local charity store.

He felt a little guilty when one of his neighbours suddenly moved out after he set the wards and another was heard complaining that her boyfriend never wanted to come around anymore, but not guilty enough to draw the ward-lines in to the edges of his own apartment. In the week he'd known him Tim had become important to him and he wanted him protected at least here at home where he could do something about it. He also did manage to put some minor protection charms on Tim's car and a wakefulness charm on the driver's seat.

-o0o-

"I'm going to miss your cooking" Tim said as they ate dinner the night before Hadrian's new bed was to be delivered a week later.

"I'd be happy for you to come and have dinner with me any night you're not working. I hate cooking just for myself" Hadrian replied. "There's some frozen meals in the freezer too for when you get back late. I always seem to make too much for just the two of us."

Tim smiled. "Thank you but you should take them. They're your work after all."

"Cooked with your food. Besides I can always make more. I'm not the one that can't cook" Hadrian replied teasingly.

Tim laughed. "I can cook" he protested.

"Then why did you live on takeaway?" Hadrian asked.

"It just seemed easier. It's such a waste of time to cook for myself and after a fourteen hour day at work I can't be bothered with it."

"So we could take turns cooking for each other" Hadrian suggested. "I'm happy to do most of it as I'll probably work shorter hours than you most of the time but I'd like to taste your cooking too oneday."

"Deal" Tim said happily.

-o0o-

Hadrian's furniture arrived and Tim helped him put it together but they continued to eat dinner together every night that neither of them were working or away and Hadrian continued to provide breakfast wraps for them to eat while Tim drove them in to the Navy Yard. Tim never thought to be suspicious of the fact that Hadrian seemed to work every day that he did but never when he wasn't working assuming that Hadrian chose to call into the office each morning when he could.

They spent their days off together with Tim showing the British man around the more minor tourist attractions in the tri-state area and those difficult to access without a car, assuming he would visit the main attractions in his time off without Tim if he were interested.

Hadrian frequently spent the night with Tim either because they'd both fallen asleep watching TV or because one or the other had requested the other's help in keeping the nightmares at bay after a difficult day. Their friendship firmed and deepened as time went on and both of them secretly gave thanks to their chance meeting on the plane.

Some nights they just enjoyed the quiet companionship of not being alone. Hadrian would bring his homework down (under glamour charms to make it look like law books) and work at the table while Tim wrote or messed about with his computer, writing apps or playing games. Other nights they watched movies together. "You know I'm watching nearly as many movies as Tony does these days" Tim commented.

"We don't have to. I could get my own TV if you'd prefer me to" Hadrian replied uncertainly.

"No I enjoy watching with you. Movies are meant to be shared, it wasn't anywhere near as much fun watching on my own" Tim said backtracking. "I only meant that Tony would be impressed with all the movies I've seen lately."

Hadrian smiled. "I enjoy watching more with you too" he admitted.

-o0o-

"You probably should have rented a place closer to the city as you don't drive" Tim said one morning as he drove them to work, a little guilty he hadn't suggested it to his friend before he'd signed the lease for an apartment in his building.

"Or I should learn to drive" Hadrian replied shrugging. "Besides if I lived closer to the city it would be harder to visit you."

Tim grinned. "I'm not saying I'm not glad you're here and I'm happy to drive you but what are you going to do if I get called away on a case?"

"Catch the bus" Hadrian replied. "I catch it home most nights." He hated lying to his friend and began to see why Hermione found it so difficult when she tried to fit back into her parent's world.

"We're you serious about learning to drive?" Tim asked.

"Yeah is there driving schools or something in this area?" Hadrian asked.

"I could teach you but... This isn't the best sort of car to learn in" Tim said hesitantly.

"Not to mention it's your pride and joy. I'd hate to risk damaging it" Hadrian said understandingly. "I think I might need something older with less electrics anyway."

Tim laughed. "One day you're going to have to get over your fear of electronics. You're worse than Gibbs."

Hadrian blushed. Magic and delicate electronics really didn't mix. His first cell phone had lasted four days, and his second hadn't fared any better. Luckily the SIM card had survived so he'd been able to replace the phone the second time without admitting it to Tim.

"Were you serious about being willing to teach me to drive though if I buy my own car?" He asked hesitantly. He didn't want Tim to think he was a burden or trying to take advantage. "I don't mind taking lessons form an instructor."

"You get a car and I'll teach you" Tim said willingly. "I taught my sister to drive, not that that's any recommendation seeing her drive now but she's never had an accident."

"Thanks Tim" Hadrian said smiling at his friend.

"We could go looking for cars this weekend" Tim offered.

-o0o-

Ginny knew she couldn't go to Auror headquarters and demand to know Harry's whereabouts or when he was due back from assignment again. Harry's boss had threatened to arrest her if she did and while she was sure he wouldn't she also realised that he wouldn't answer her questions. Ron and Hermione were both insisting that they hadn't heard from Harry since he left. Hermione was actually rather upset with her over the fact. 'As if it was her fault Harry had been given an assignment away from London' Ginny scoffed. She tried to approach friends in the Auror corps but none of them admitted to knowing anything about Harry's current assignment except that it had come down from the very top. Robbards or maybe even the Minister himself had ordered it. She'd tried every sneaky option she could to find out where Harry had been sent. She talked Dean and Seamus into trying to find out when Harry would be back telling them she had stuff to return to him and as he'd put his house back under the fidelius and owl wards she needed to see him to return it, but nobody would tell them anything either. Wherever it was he was under really good owl redirection wards because she'd tried sending him a letter and following Pig on her broom. She'd easily kept up with the little owl but it had flown directly to Gringotts' London Bank who sent it straight back to her as undeliverable. She tried to visit the bank claiming to have a family emergency that she needed Harry's assistance but the Potter account manager refused to meet with her.

-o0o-

Hadrian frowned as he extinguished the small fire in his pocket caused by his third cell phone being hit by a spell while he was out patrolling. The phone was beyond help but he was able to reparo his uniform before looking ruefully at Auror O'Rielly, his partner for the day, who was laughing so hard he had to lean on the wall to maintain his balance.

His bosses had decided that the best way for him to get to know all the magical areas in the city was to spend a couple of days shadowing the officers that patrolled each of them. The guy he was with the day his phone was destroyed laughed at him for being hit by a kid. "I still don't expect little kids to have wands" Hadrian protested.

"I thought they were just using sticks to play."

"Children aren't allowed to take their wands out in public in England?" O'Rielly asked surprised that a law like that could be enforced well enough for the British Aurors to expect children never to have wands.

"They're not allowed to own a wand until they turn eleven" Hadrian replied. "Some of the old pureblood families have family wands they use to tutor their children but they'd never be allowed to carry them in public for fear of having the privilege revoked. Not to mention it's almost like admitting your child isn't strong enough or smart enough to pick things up quickly enough not to need tutoring before school starts. Something most purebloods refuse to admit so they all pretend they don't let their children use wands."

O'Rielly nodded in understanding. "Children start magical school here at the age of six. It helps to hide accidental magic from the mundanes and stops people from wondering why kids are pulled out of schools at eight like they used to. Not that a six year old is capable of learning much magic of course."

"But starting early like that gives you time to teach all the mundane subjects as well as the magical subjects" Hadrian said nodding. "That way your mundane born students aren't stuck in the magical world having to tolerate all sorts if discrimination because they don't have the education to get a decent job in the mundane world either."

"It's that bad?" O'Rielly asked.

"The Hit Wizards are the only section of the ministry that hire solely on ability. The only other jobs a muggleborn could get in the ministry would be janitorial and kitchen staff and to be honest most of them are squibs and elves. Even a half blood would struggle to advance above the most basic entry level positions unless they were from an old family or had a powerful patron, or possibly were rich enough to bribe your way to promotion. And since they left mainstream schooling at the age of eleven, unless they've been going to summer school to keep up they could only get labouring, domestic or basic retail work in the muggle world unless they have a particular talent or family to employ them.

"I thought things were getting better since Potter won the war. Is the discrimination why you left?" O'Rielly asked.

"No I was an Auror as well as a Hit Wizard. I just needed to get away after I found out my fiancé and her mother had been feeding me love potions." Hadrian said sighing.

"You hadn't noticed?" O'Rielly said slightly derisively.

"They started with loyalty potions when I was twelve then an attraction and jealousy potion at fifteen before graduating to a amortentia. It never crossed my mind that the people I thought of as family could do that to me" Hadrian explained bitterly. "I couldn't press charges without harming my best mate and his father who knew nothing about it so it was better to leave. Besides they were purebloods and I'm not so it's only a misdemeanour which infuriated me. I should have stayed and tried to change things but it's like banging your head on a brick wall."

O'Rielly looked at him closely. "If you don't mind me saying so Potter you need to be less specific about why you left if you want to remain incognito. The abrupt end of your engagement and the trouble your ex fiancé and her mother tried to make before you left did make the international papers."

Hadrian sighed. "I would greatly appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone my original identity" he requested earnestly.

"Your secret's safe with me lad. Nowt'd believe me anyhow" O'Rielly reassured him. "Why America though. You're surely not be expecting a new dark lord here?"

"No, quite the opposite actually. America has a great system of law and equality. I wanted to come somewhere peaceful" Harry said. "Officially I am here to consult in case there are death eaters hiding here since we were never sure how many had escaped Britain at the end of the war but there's been no sign of any."

"I guess I can understand that. I was a veteran from the Korean War" O'Rielly said.

Later that day O'Rielly had led Hadrian into a shop that sold phones. "I assume you got that burnt hunk of plastic in a mundane shop?" He asked.

Hadrian nodded.

"These ones cost a bit more and they won't survive a direct hit like today but they have fire suppressant runes engraved on the inside of the casing so they won't catch fire while you're using it. And if you keep it in one of these protective cases it'll protect it from magic."

"Will it still receive calls and texts in the case?" Hadrian asked.

"Wouldn't be much use if it didn't" the shop keeper said gruffly.

"Can you rescue the card thingie from this? It was a gift from a friend and I don't want to have to tell him I killed my phone so quickly" Hadrian asked.

"You sure did a number on it" the attendant grunted. He managed to get the SIM card out and install it in the new phone though he was surprised it still worked. "You have the luck of the devil. I've never seen a phone that damaged where the card wasn't melted too. That'll be seventy five bucks."

"Thanks for that" Hadrian said to O'Reilly after leaving the store.

"Gift from a girlfriend?" O'Reilly teased.

"Friend" Hadrian corrected blushing.

"You sure about that?" O'Reilly asked.

"I'd like it to be more but I don't think they feel the same" Hadrian said sighing.

A/N: Thank you to linzi, julschristine975, amb6675, Maben00, xDarklightx, Firehedgehog, Rori Potter, Silvermane1, buterflypuss, ToTheStarButPickMagic, Fae0306, Locket1, DS2010, acherongoddess, PickABookOrCrimeShow, lgbtlovechick, Aire5, Merlenyn, Titatovenaares, Kuraihikaru, LadyPolgara70, charlielou1241, flaimingdarkfox, Elf2807, LyokoHacker, sezeny, , Wolfal18, Lucylein89, StephJ, GrimNights, ABaines, SilverFoxQueen, exaigon, tsukasa913, gatewaygodess, Cracker.895, harryfan160889, animal8, , saiph240, ajmcclane193, SparklyFairys, AlixzandraJaydePhoenix, phillg, Morli84, drake305, Captain Len, hitomi-tama, CrossAuroraShepard, Tenma, irishamber, Interested Fan, paters02, Ailuj, WisdomWriter25, TobyDR, bholi, BrookMctirre, mewtwosangel, Karen19, avidereader101, LadyPhoenix731, bobert0774, angelsnowflakes, Wizardsfantasy, childofflameandwave, ReaderOfNeatThings, liliany and Moon's Night Mist for your support.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or NCIS or any of their characters.

Ginny woke early on what would have been her wedding day. Her father had forced her mother to cancel the celebrant and the wedding arrangements and send out official notifications to all the invited guests but Ginny had refused to give up believing the wedding would be rescheduled soon enough. She'd paid off her wedding dress and picked it up and in her heart she'd continued to hope that Harry would change his mind and return. It was only yesterday when Harry hadn't been seen in weeks and none of their friends had heard from him that she was forced to admit he wouldn't be coming home in time for the wedding. He really didn't want to marry her. She'd come home and thrown a massive tantrum throwing things around her room with her hands since her magic wasn't strong enough to cause more than a slight breeze, then thrown herself onto the bed and cried herself to sleep. Now she rolled onto her back and looked at the perfect sunny dawn outside. Harry had wanted to be married at dawn with just her immediate family Hermione, Neville and Luna present but she'd talked him out of it. She thought the public would think it was odd. Now she wondered if he would have come back if she hadn't ignored his wishes and demanded such a huge public engagement and wedding.

Ginny was glad that her mother had given up in her original plans to have a big family dinner today to support her daughter. Feeding people was her mother's way of dealing with stress not Ginny's and she really didn't want to see anyone today not even her family. She flopped back on the bed and drew the covers over her face. She didn't know how she was going to face her friends after spending the last few weeks insisting that the engagement was still on and she knew Harry would be back to marry her today, no matter what anyone else said.

-o0o-

In contrast to Ginny's day hiding in her bed, Harry was up early eager to go downstairs and have breakfast with Tim before a day of sightseeing with his friend. Harry's only feeling about his cancelled wedding when he thought of it briefly that day was relief. His time in America wasn't perfect and he missed his friends greatly at times but he knew he would probably never choose to live in magical Britain again. While his fame had frustrated him he really didn't notice the true burden that everybody's expectations were in him until the weight had been lifted. Here nobody expected any more of him than they did their other colleagues or neighbours. And he hadn't had a single row with anybody since he last saw the Weasleys. He hadn't realised how draining the constant arguments with Ginny had been. He hadn't met anyone except Tim that he was close enough to want to share his sexuality with but he wasn't going to hide it anymore either though he would be eternally grateful that when he had realised he was probably bisexual as a teenager he had been too busy preparing for the war with Voldemort to do anything about it and he hadn't told anyone before he'd realised how badly the British Wizarding world would have reacted to finding out their saviour wasn't 100% straight. In truth Hadrian's adolescence had been one long chain of libido supressing trauma's after another so he hadn't had much time or energy to dwell on his sexuality. He'd spent most of his thirteenth year recovering from aftereffects of the Basilisk venom in his system along with the usual partial starvation of every summer, then there was the Dementors and believing he was being targeted by another mass murderer. He was just starting to recover when his name was drawn out of the Goblet of Fire and he was fighting for his life again, facing a dragon, then his certain death by drowning in the lake given that he'd never learned to swim, then the grief over Cedric and the guilt of being part of Voldemort's resurrection ritual, then his fifteenth year there was the Dementor attack on his family, his anger at not being believed, torture by not one but two of his professors, the death of his godfather and then the knowledge of the prophesy, that the end of the war and the survival of thousands of people was all depending on him.

Along the way he'd come to the realisation that openly gay people just didn't seem to exist in the wizarding world, though he wasn't aware of the depth of prejudice against them and with the belief that to have the family he had so desperately wanted all his life he would need to marry a witch he kept his bisexuality to himself. It was only after his move to America that he felt free to express who he really was and he came to realise that not only might he be more gay than bisexual but that he was falling for his new best friend.

'His new straight best friend' he thought despondently. Tim had been so terrific about letting him stay, even now when he had his own apartment he mostly stayed at Tim's when his friend was home. Tim said he appreciated the company and the break from eating take-aways. Hadrian was happy to have a second person to cook for so he'd come down and cook dinner then they'd sit on Tim's bed and watch movies or read. Some nights Tim would sit at his old typewriter and write until the small hours. Hadrian had offered to leave him in piece the first couple of times this had happened but Tim had assured him that he felt better knowing the younger man was there and seemed to write better too. He did most of his homework and research on Tim's dining room table while his friend was writing. Some nights he was awake enough to return to his own flat but he noticed that Tim never woke him up if he did fall asleep and occasionally when he'd had a bad case even subtly encouraged him to stay

-o0o-

"Tell me about your friends?" Hadrian asked suddenly.

"What about them?" Tim asked.

"Well I've been here for weeks and we've spent nearly every night you haven't been working together but I haven't met any of your other friends. I guess I'm just curious" Hadrian said. "I hope you're not neglecting them for my sake."  
Tim nodded in understanding. "I don't have any close friends other than you and Abby and the team. I didn't realise til I met you how much my job had become my world." 'And what poor friends my colleagues are' he thought.  
"What about school or college friends?" Hadrian asked concerned that his friend had been so lonely.  
"I never had much in the way of school friends. My dad was in the Navy so we moved around a lot and then I was accelerated up a couple of years so I was younger than all my class mates. They didn't like that much" Tim said. "I had some good friends in college but they live in different parts of the country and we've pretty much lost touch though I talk to them via email now and again. I'll happily introduce you to them if we run across each other again."  
"Maybe you should make an effort to reconnect with them" Hadrian suggested.  
"What about your friends? I know you're in hiding from your ex-fiancé but you must have friends you could trust not to tell her if you contacted them" Tim asked.  
"I had two best friends. Ron and Hermione. Ron is my ex fiance's brother. He understands why we broke up and at first he didn't take sides but she's told him so many lies that I think he's taking her side now. My other best friend is engaged to him and she's remained neutral but it was putting a strain on their relationship. I don't want to come between them. It's better for everyone that I stay away until things calm down" Hadrian replied sighing. "I have a couple of friends from work I keep in contact with and a couple of other school friends but because Ginny and I were at school together we have mostly the same friends."

Tim nodded. "What about here? Have you made new friends with your colleagues?"

Hadrian shrugged. "They're all nice enough but it's going to take time to get to know them. I'm still being moved around learning the ropes and most of the guys I've been partnered with so far are married with families. I'm sure I'll make friends eventually but I'm not lonely with you to hang out with."

Tim rarely talked much about his team other than as they were involved in cases making Hadrian curious. From his time in the Aurors he realised that teams that stayed together long term usually became close like extended families but that didn't seem to be the case with Tim's team.

"What's your team like?" He asked hesitantly.

Tim looked at Hadrian as he gathered his thoughts.

"Gibbs is the team lead, he is an ex-marine and a bigger technophobe than you are without the random explosion thing." Tim had seen the inexplicable death of Hadrian's first cell phone. "He's brilliant at his job but doesn't deal well with others, nor authority or rules other than his, which hypocritically he expects us all to follow without question. He expects a lot from his team, too much at times but he always puts the victims first. You've got to respect that. He's been married and divorced three times and I think he's seeing someone but he keeps his private life well away from the team."

Hadrian nodded.

"'Very Special Agent DiNozzo' is the senior field agent. He's a frat boy in his late thirties who doesn't want to grow up. He graduated from Ohio State University on a sports scholarship with a degree in PE and worked as a cop for years. He's a womaniser and a prankster but though he likes playing the fool he's a very shrewd investigator" Tim continued.

"Very Special Agent?" Hadrian asked.

"That's how he refers to himself" Tim replied.

"From the frown you gave when you mentioned pranks I'd say you were a target?" Hadrian questioned.

Tim groaned. "I'm his main target. He knows Ziva and Gibbs would kill him if he pulled stupid pranks on them and Gibbs would probably kill him if he pranked Abby. Not to mention the epic tantrum Abby would throw."

"Have you told him to stop?" Hadrian asked.

"Yeah but he's the SFA he outranks me" Tim said. "I let him go at first because I didn't want to be known as one of those probies that can't take a little bit of hazing."

Hadrian nodded, he'd put up with quite a bit of harassment from the other cadets and the trainers in the Auror Corps who were threatened by his reputation and his friendship with the minister and deputy minister of magic and wanted to make sure he didn't think he was entitled to special treatment. It had got better once he'd proved he was willing to do his share of the shit jobs without whinging.

"I understand hazing as a way of toughening up new recruits and teaching situational awareness but his continuing all this time is a sign of disrespect" he told his friend sadly. "Unless your SFA is as juvenile as he appears which he can't be if he's as good as you say he is."

Hadrian had been worried that Tim would be offended but he looked relieved. "Yeah you're right" he admitted heavily. "Abby kept saying that it's just Tony's way and I was being over sensitive but…"

"Abby was wrong. You said he doesn't treat the other's like that" Hadrian said. "I'm almost afraid to ask about the rest of the team."

Tim smiled sadly. "Ziva is new. I don't know much about her yet except that she's a liaison from Mossad and friendly with the director. She seems nice enough. Tony isn't nice to her either, though he doesn't prank her. I think he still resents her for taking Kate's place."

"Do you resent her too?" Hadrian asked, already knowing about what had happened to Tim's late partner.

"No it wasn't her fault Kate was killed" Tim said. "If it wasn't Ziva we would have replaced her with someone else. Gibbs isn't as angry as I thought he would be at having her forced on him though."

"And what about Abby?" Hadrian asked.

"I'll tell you about Abby another day Hades. I don't have the energy to try to work out her motivations tonight" Tim said tiredly.

"Hades?" Hadrian asked surprised.

"Sorry Hadrian" Tim apologised hoping his friend wasn't too offended by the slip. Tim had been thinking of Hadrian as Hades for a while now, enjoying having a private name for the man he hoped would one day become more than a friend and not wanting to use a traditional pet name like 'love' or 'baby' in case he slipped up and called him something inappropriate to his face.

"I don't mind" Hadrian said smiling. "I just hadn't thought how else Hadrian could be shortened."

"What do your friends at home call you?" Tim asked.

"Harry. But I thought that Harry was my actual legal name until I found my birth certificate at eighteen. It was even on all my school records. Nobody ever bothered to tell me my real name. though in my friends' case they probably didn't know it either. Still you'd think my father's friends would've known" Hadrian replied.

"What about your mother's friends?" Tim asked.

"Oh… Nobody ever told me who they were except for Snape and he hated me for being my father's son, so I'm not surprised he didn't tell me if he knew. He calls me by my surname when he's not insulting me" Hadrian said thoughtfully.

"No one ever told you about your Mom?" Tim asked shocked.

"Well I grew up living with her sister so I guess people thought I knew about her already" Hadrian said realising as he said it how thin the excuse was. He was grateful Tim let it drop.

"So, would you like me to call you Harry?" Tim asked.

"No I would prefer you didn't. I don't want to be Harry any more. Hadrian or Hades is fine. I kind of like it" Hadrian said smiling at his friend.

Tim smiled back, he kind of liked that he had a nickname for his friend that nobody else used as well.

-o0o-

The Auror team in New York had come across a wizarding gang with a couple of members with British accents and were waiting for Hadrian to arrive to attempt to identify them.

"He's coming by portkey? He's not much of a wizard if he can't even aparate from DC to New York" Auror Thaddeus Billingsley said disparagingly. "Why do we need him?"

"Aparate to the Auror headquarters in DC and meet him there then" Head Auror Erik Johanson replied seemingly casually.

"I've never been there" Thaddeus backtracked anxiously.

"Then why would you expect a British wizard who's never even been to New York, let alone this office, to be able to aparate here to the seventh floor?" Erik asked pointedly. The young Auror Billingsley was a little too full of himself in Auror Johanson's opinion. Hopefully seeing how the British consultant and the SWAT teams worked together with others would teach him something. "As to how he can help he's apparently an expert on the death eaters and their usual techniques and wards. And I've heard he's a real powerhouse. They tried to use him to duel their senior Auror class for their final assessment last month and he beat the lot of them without raising a sweat."

"He beat twelve graduating Aurors one after another in a single day?" Thaddeus asked astonished.

"Within three hours" Erik confirmed. "They had to run the test again with one of the other senior Aurors to pass any of them. Now go up to the portkey arrival and fetch him before he thinks we don't want his help. And for Merlin's sake be polite"

Thaddeus had to admit he was impressed watching Hadrian arrive, he landed as smoothly as if he'd walked from the other side of the room. "Wow I've never seen anyone land like that|" he blurted out.

Hadrian shrugged modestly. "I portkey to London at least once a week and international portkeys are a lot rougher than this. So are most of the one's we used in England, not to mention the floo system. I was glad to find out you didn't have one here."

"Well welcome to New York. I'm Thaddeus Billingsley. Do you need a place to stay while you're here?"

"No thanks once I know where to come I can aparate home each night" Hadrian replied.

"There's an apparition point on our floor so you can come straight there. I'll show you" Thaddeus offered.

"What can you tell me about the situation?" Hadrian asked.

"We've got a group of at least eight young wizards causing trouble, it's been fairly minor stuff, burglary and mundane baiting, nothing we can't handle, but one of the witnesses reported that one of the perps had a British accent so the boss said to get you involved."

"I'm just glad to be able to be able to help and repay some of the investment MI7 made in sending me here" Hadrian said.

"Auror Black, I'm Head Auror Erik Johanson in charge of this investigation" Erik introduced himself. "We've found the safe house and have a SWAT team surveilling the place now".

They arrived at the site and found the swat team waiting just over 100meters out from the edge of the property.

"They all left in a hurry as we were arriving and there's been no activity since" the SWAT leader reported.

Hadrian immediately started walking away from the property.

"You're going the wrong way" the SWAT leader said.

"Where did you aparate in?" Hadrian asked.

"The alley over there has a blind spot behind that truck" Auror Nathaniel Carmichael said pointing.

Hadrian walked over and examined the area.

"They felt you coming. There alert wards are about another 60metres out and there's wards in the alley as well" Hadrian told them. "We're wasting our time they won't be back."

"No one puts wards out that far" Nathaniel objected.

"We used to put ours out to at least 300 metres when we were in hiding from the death eaters" Hadrian replied. "The problem with that is they also alert any wizard who passes by with the sensitivity to feel wards and far more magicals live in mundane areas here in America."

"Should we search the house?" Thaddeus asked.

"How much time between the first SWAT member arriving and their last person's departure?" Hadrian asked.

"Maybe three or four minutes. Not long enough to set a trap" Nathaniel replied confidently.

"Enough time to activate previously laid traps" Hadrian warned.

"Wouldn't there be a risk they'd set them off by mistake?" Thaddeus asked.

"If it is escaped Death Eaters they would have laid them anyway. SOP" Hadrian said.

"So how do you suggest we go in?" Erik asked.

"Through the roof. The traps will be mostly on the ground floor"

"You can't levitate a team up there in a mundane area" Erik protested.

"We could if we disillusioned them" Nathaniel suggested.

Hadrian picked up a nearby rock, charmed it the colour of the house and levitated it slowly up towards the house. About two metres from the upstairs windows it suddenly changed colour and fell to the ground where spikes had appeared put of nowhere. "Magic cancelling ward. We'll need a mundane produced ladder" he declared.

The young agent who'd suggested disillusioning paled. "Will it be safe?"

"It should be. One thing all Death Eaters had in common is they disregard muggle or mundane methods of doing things. They've probably never seen a muggle ladder in their lives. Even the rebuilding of Hogwarts after the war was all done with magic carpets, brooms and levitation" Hadrian explained calmly.

-o0o-

Hadrian used the mage sight charm on his glasses as they finally got into the house and was able to identify and disarm several traps commonly used by specific Death Eaters.

"It looks like Travis and one of the Flints' work" he said relaxing a little.

"How do you know" Thaddeus asked.

"Each Death Eater had their favourite traps and spells. It could be one of the others using Flint's family spell but thy guard their secrets closely so probably not" Hadrian explained.

"And that's good?" Erik asked.

"Of the Death Eaters we know have got away these two are little fish" Hadrian said. "Neither of them is above average, strength wise and while they're smart enough to have gotten away I'm not surprised they've already attracted your attention.

"Yeah but we've lost them" Erik complained.

"They'll show up soon enough" Hadrian replied.

"And we won't make the same mistakes next time Nathaniel said still smarting from having inadvertently alerted the targets.

"Let's head back to headquarters and go through what else we've got on this gang" Erik suggested.

"Okay" Hadrian agreed. He was able to point out several things that he believed were the work of Travis and Flint as opposed to the work of the American members of the gang, but they didn't make much more progress.

A/N: Thank you to linzi, gaul1, xDarklightx, julschristine975, SandraD, buterflypuss, DS2010, acherongoddes, PickABookOrCrimeShow, Rori Potter, Maben00, Firehedgehog, Locket1, Merlenyn, ToTheStarButPickMagic, Silvermane1, Luluca Amekaze, icyquest4, Cinnamon Buns, bipolarwithcats, DarkBlade23451, GaaraxFangirl3, Kourtney Uzu Yato, yamiko20, zEROfrustration, vadenvern, AlexaIrina, Lady Nyshah, eBeth093, newc001, shadoucat, marissa6270, .male, miline, Chompekitas, jaspersvamp, misstress132, Catcat1520, davignonr, Lady-Totoro, Swirling Rain of Tears, NANA-TheFemmeFaye-tal, blackgirl663, KeithRichardsRoxMySox, Shianelle, blacktides, Gwenaelle7, poppabear11420, Angelisa McKaine, Spazzy13, vale8409, LaHarpie, , SheDevil24, Kalibrit, Winchester, Amaranthais, ShiaPotter, christinaemerald, Dustin travis, nicopop, Aiyobi Uzamaki, MariLucia, prismaticmem, setsunai, ariannalupin, msblackroseofdeath, Lotty7, Hiruka654 and for your support.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or NCIS or any of their Characters.

Ginny woke up the Sunday morning, the week after her would have been wedding day with a massive hangover and in an unfamiliar place. She'd been out partying with friends at the three broomsticks and vaguely remembered being thrown out and heading somewhere else to continue the party, but her memories of the end of the evening were quite foggy.

Looking down she could see she was still dressed in the clothes she'd worn out the night before and moving experimentally she wasn't sore anywhere except for the thumping in her head and her stomach churning, though that didn't necessarily mean much if someone was skilled with healing spells. She could smell faint traces of vomit but looking around she definitely wasn't in a hospital.

She groaned loudly on waking and Dean walked in with a hangover potion for her. "I guess you'll be wanting this" he said.

Ginny chugged it down without checking what it was, and immediately felt better. "Where am I?" she asked.

"In the spare room at Michael's parents place. They're away on holiday and he invited us all back when we got thrown out of 'The Three Broomsticks'. You were too drunk for us to floo you home and nobody was sober enough to apparate you" Dean explained.

"I've got to go! Mum will kill me!" Ginny exclaimed.

"Lisa floo'd your parents and told them you were here earlier so they wouldn't worry. If I were you I'd give the hangover potion time to finish working and have some breakfast and clean up a bit before you go home. Your Mum will be more upset if you walk in like you look now than if you stay another hour or two and clean up" Dean replied.

"If we're at Michael's why are you here instead of him?" Ginny asked.

Dean's face fell. "You don't remember" he said.

"Remember what?" Ginny asked frowning as she searched her memory, coming up blank.

"We got back together last night" Dean said quietly.

"Harry and I are going to get back together as soon as he gets home from his assignment" Ginny protested.

"That's not what Harry said before he left" Dean replied. "He made it very clear he wouldn't be getting back together with you, not to mention that word is he's gonna be gone a year or more."

"He would have told us if he was leaving for a YEAR" Ginny screeched furiously, jumping out of bed and trying to tidy her hair.

"Really? After you harassed him to the point he threatened to have half your family arrested?" Dean said disbelievingly. "You still think he would have come around to say goodbye and give your brothers the opportunity to finish beating him up like Ron tried?"

Ginny ignored him searching for her things to leave, not caring that she was hurting Dean.

She flood to her brother's shop. "Did you know Harry's going to be away for a whole year?" she demanded loudly in spite of the customers in the shop.

Fred grabbed her and dragged her out the back where they had a silencing ward already in place. "Did you know?" she repeated furiously.

"No I didn't know, but that's no reason to come into our shop and make a scene in front of the customers looking like something the cat dragged in" Fred replied.

"A year? How am I going to get him back if he's gone a whole year? What if he meets someone else?" Ginny asked panicking at the thought.

"How were you planning to get him back anyway? He doesn't trust you enough to eat anything you or Mum give him and if he found himself having feelings for you again he'd probably take a flushing potion. He doesn't love you Ginny. If he loved you, you never would have had to potion him in the first place" Fred said sternly. "It's a good thing that Harry's gone. It will let the scandal die down before it does too much damage to your reputation but you've got to stop making scenes in public" George added.

"I thought your tryout for the Harpies was this morning" Fred added. "Don't tell me you forgot to go?"

"They wrote to me and put it off til next week" Ginny replied unconcernedly.

"All the more reason to stop making scenes. They're probably waiting for the publicity of your broken engagement to die down" George suggested. "Now why don't you use our floo and go home and clean yourself up a bit and I'll take you out to lunch."

"I need to talk to Ron and Hermione" Ginny argued.

"You need to stay away from the ministry before you get yourself arrested. I'll get Mum to invite Hermione for dinner and you can talk to them at the house tonight" Fred replied firmly, pushing her towards the floo and following her home in the hope their mother could keep her from storming the ministry and making another scene embarrassing all of them.

-o0o-

Tim admitted to himself that he'd developed feelings for his new friend. He'd long since accepted that he was bisexual though he kept it quiet once he'd left college because he knew it was not accepted by his family or the navy. He suspected that Hadrian might be bisexual too, his friend was a little too comfortable sharing a bed with him to be completely straight, or maybe he was just the first totally straight man Tim had ever met that wasn't at least a little homophobic, Tim thought pessimistically. Because there was no way Hadrian could explain to him about the love potions Tim believed Hadrian must have had genuine feelings for his ex-fiancé and attributed the sadness in his eyes sometimes to the loss of his relationship rather than the deaths during the war he didn't know about and the loss of trust of those he'd thought of as his family. He therefore decided not to bring up his emerging feelings for his friend, to give him time to get over his past relationship before trying to push for a new one. Still he resolved to enjoy as much closeness as Hadrian would allow.

With Hadrian's encouragement, Tim reconnected with his college friends on line though none of them lived in the DC area. Several of these friends knew Tim was bisexual and he told them about his new friendship with Hades and the hope that it could one day be more. They were all supportive though worried about the way Tim was trying to compartmentalise his life. Work and the team were a huge part of Tim's life and his friends didn't think that a long term relationship could work without Hades meeting the team however awkward it would be. They also reminded him that he worked with investigators, one of them would surely notice sooner rather than later that Tim had stopped trying to date and want to know why. Tim knew that while Ziva and Gibbs would buy the idea of a new girlfriend he wasn't ready to talk about, Abby would demand he tell her the details and make life very difficult for him until he told her, and Tony would try to snoop, perhaps going as far as to break into his apartment again which would expose his friendship with Hades immediately as he was beginning to think that Hades sometimes had as many belongings in Tim's apartment as he did in his own.

-o0o-

"I have to go out tonight" Tim said unenthusiastically as he arrived home a couple of weeks later.

"Okay where are you going?" Hadrian asked, quickly realising from Tim's body language that this was an apology for not spending the evening with him not an invitation.

"Abby demanded that I take her to a concert tonight" Tim said rummaging through the drawer under the phone. "Have you seen my earplugs? They're bright orange."

"It's going to be loud enough to need earplugs? Why in Merlin's name would you want to go to something like that?" Hadrian asked.

Tim grinned a little at Hades' unique way of swearing, he found it appealing that he didn't use traditional foul language. "To be honest I don't want to go. I hate Abby's taste in music but it wasn't worth the hassle she'll give me at work if I said no" Tim replied sighing. "I'd much rather have an early night, or spend the night reading. I was almost hoping we'd pick up a case this afternoon and I'd have to work all night but it would only be putting off the inevitable. Abby would just find another equally dreadful band to drag me along to see."

"So you got your case wrapped up then?" Hadrian asked as he found the earplugs and smuggled them into the other room so he could discretely cast charms on them to more efficiently block out all noise other than spoken words, and make them less noticeable so nobody would be likely to take offence at Tim wearing them.

"Yeah we wrapped up in time to do our reports so I have tomorrow off thank heavens, I'm gonna need it after tonight" Tim replied.

Hadrian smiled. "I'm off tomorrow too" he said. In truth he didn't have any Auror duties but he would use his time-turner to attend classes so he could also spend the day with Tim.

"I'm gonna spend half the day sleeping. Abby will probably keep me out until after two" Tim said. "But maybe we could get in some driving practice. I'll call you when I wake up."

"Thanks" Hadrian replied. "Have you told Abby that you don't like her taste in music?"

"Yes I've told her several times but Abby has a tendency to only hear and remember what she wants to hear" Tim said glumly.

"Can I ask you something?" Hadrian asked hesitantly.

"Of course" Tim said looking up.

"Do you like Abby? I mean do you want to date her?" Hadrian asked. He bit his lip hoping that Tim would say no.

"We did date for a while a couple of years ago" Tim said. "It didn't work out. She doesn't want anything serious, she likes to go out to clubs and concerts almost every night and I prefer quiet things like movies and dinner in a nice restaurant or just hanging out together."

"Ginny was like that too. Always wanting to go to parties and stuff even when I had work in the morning she'd accept for me then tell me it would be rude not to go when I'd accepted" Hadrian replied understandingly. "You really didn't answer my question though you can be attracted to someone without having much in common."

Tim shrugged. "It was her idea to break up and I was upset for a while but she was right we'd never have worked."

"That doesn't mean you don't have feelings for her" Hadrian pressed gently. He had to know.

"I don't Hades. My feelings were never as strong as I thought they were and they're gone now. I wouldn't take her back even if she did change and I don't think she ever will. She's ten years older than me and still acts like a spoilt teenager. Sometimes I don't even think I like her much but she's Gibbs favourite and he always indulges her tantrums. So it's worth going along with her every now and again to keep the peace."

"Do you have time to eat before you go or are you having dinner with Abby?" Hadrian asked dropping the painful subject.

"Neither I'm afraid. Hopefully I'll be able to grab something at the concert venue" Tim replied.

"I have a couple of burrito's in the freezer I could heat one up for you. You could eat it on the way" Hadrian offered. "It would be better than drinking on an empty stomach."

"I'm not drinking, I'm the designated driver for tonight" Tim replied.

Hadrian frowned as he pulled out the burrito. "One or two?" he asked. He could see Abby was using Tim and it seemed that Tim could see it too even if he wasn't prepared to do anything about it. Still it wasn't his plaace to lecture his friend about it, Tim was miserable enough. He handed Tim the two hot breakfast burritos on a paper plate.

"Do you mind if I finish cooking this here?" he asked gesturing to the meal he'd started to prepare earlier.

"Of course not, I trust you to lock up when you go. Stay and watch TV if you want. That show we talked about is on tonight."

"Do you want me to try to record it for you?" Hadrian asked hesitantly.

"Try if you like, I won't be upset if you can't work it" Tim said grinning. Hadrian's ineptitude with all things technological was a source of amusement to him.

Hadrian laughed. "I'll try."

-o0o-

Tim sighed as he followed Abby from the concert to the after party she'd insisted on attending. "Don't be silly Timmy I know Gibbs gave you the day off tomorrow" she'd argued when he told her he was too tired.

Tim compared her friendship to Hadrian's and for the first time he found Abby's friendship lacking. Contrasting her insistence that he take her out tonight with Hadrian's quiet companionship happy to be doing whatever Tim felt like doing and how they calmly decided on their outings to suit both their interests and current energy levels when they were off. Hadrian's insistence on making breakfast every morning to repay Tim for the favour of driving him halfway to work on the mornings he was home and his refusal to accept a lift unless Tim was driving that way anyway. The dinner's he made the two of them and the meals he put away in the fridge or freezer without complaining when a case came up and Tim couldn't get home. The understanding that Tim sometimes had problems he wasn't ready to share and the gentle comfort when he had a nightmare he couldn't talk about.

Looking back, he realised that even when they'd been dating Abby wasn't half the friend Hadrian was. In fact, he'd never had a friend like Hades. It wasn't just that he was attracted to the younger man though he had to admit that was part of it. He'd never met anyone who consistently considered him and his feelings in everything they did together without making a big deal of it. And it wasn't that Hades sacrificed his own desires to do what Tim wanted he was sure his friend genuinely enjoyed all their time together. They just seemed to enjoy a lot of the same things and want similar lifestyles.

Tim shook himself out of his introspection and tried to make conversation with the various partygoers though most of them were too drunk for a rational discussion. Abby was dancing but Tim felt no desire to join her. He stayed long enough to see her hook up with someone before heading home on his own. He knew he might catch hell from Abby for leaving if she noticed, but he wasn't prepared to hang around all night if she was going to ignore him anyway.

-o0o-

Hadrian spent the evening completing his homework. He was doing well in school in part thanks to the extra maturity. His size allowed him to look like he was in tenth grade with only a minor glamour but he felt decades older than the other students and hadn't really made any close acquaintances. This allowed him to spend his class time working and not take so much work home with him. He really appreciated the mundaneness of the high school. He didn't get involved in the routine teenage dramas and there weren't any life threatening situations. While he looked back on most if his Hogwarts years fondly he couldn't help but wish they had been a little more like this.

His time spent working as an Auror was also becoming more pleasant as the other Aurors accepted him. He'd showed himself willing to learn about the differences between America and Britain and not above offering his assistance for boring security duties. He still was rarely working more than 12 hours a week but that suited him just fine at the moment giving him plenty of time for school and time to reconnect with his godson. He'd sent Andromeda a letter explaining what had happened and that he was willing to take an international portkey to visit his godson so long as she would give her worn not to tell anyone that he was visiting. He knew once he'd visited he wouldn't be able to be sure Teddy wouldn't mention it, the little boy was too young to understand the importance of keeping secrets. Finally, he and Andi, as she'd asked him to call her, had come to an understanding and he could portkey in to see his godson. Return portkey's purchased in America were registered in America and while the British Ministry of Magic got a quarterly summary of how many portkeys had been purchased and used they did not receive information on the actual locations the portkeys arrived or left from and Hadrian could use one of his alternate identities to purchase the portkey so his name wouldn't attract attention. Hadrian knew that these quarterly reports were mostly filed without being read by anyone other than the lowest of clerks.

-o0o-

Ginny landed after the Harpie's tryouts feeling confident and excited. She'd knew she'd flown her best and was sure she had been one of the best. Never mind the reserves she felt she could almost be in contention for a starting position.

She listened enthusiastically for her name and was astounded to hear girls she'd clearly out flown selected for a further round of trials along with the current chasers.

"What about me? I flew better than half those girls" Ginny asked the selector when it was clear they weren't going to call her name.

"Your flying isn't the problem" Ainsley Anderton, the head coach replied. "You're right you were one of the best flyers out there and I would really have liked to be able to select you but many of our fans are girls and young women. Our players' behaviour must be beyond reproach and frankly I've heard too much about your tantrums lately to ignore. Keep yourself in shape and out of trouble and maybe you can try again next year."

"What?" Ginny said angrily.

"My brother is a trainee Auror and he told me you've nearly be arrested several times lately. We simply can't have that sort of behaviour from our players" Ainsley said. Not to mention they were also hesitant to employ Harry Potter's ex-fiancé, especially as it appeared that the girl's behaviour had driven their saviour into leaving the country. If it came out in the papers the girl would be universally hated and you could never trust those sort of things to stay secret. Ainsley hoped the year would give the girl some insight into how the public saw her and she wouldn't have to be the one to tell her that she had no hope of ever being given a place on any professional team.

'This is all Harry's fault! they never would have dared treat me this way if he hadn't jilted me' Ginny thought controlling her temper with great difficulty. In truth Ginny's had never really learned that there were consequences for losing her temper as an adult. Her mother yelled at someone on an almost daily basis and regularly purchased howler parchment in bulk and there didn't seem to be any consequences. Ginny was unaware that her mother's behaviour was one of the reasons her father had never advanced in the ministry to a level where he and his wife would have to attend official functions. The way her father and brothers catered to her mother's tantrums had made behaving like that seem acceptable in the impressionable little girl's eyes.

-o0o-

"Unca Hawwy, Unca Hawwy" Teddy threw himself at his godfather almost knocking him to the floor as he struggled to maintain his balance on landing.

"Hello Teddy, you're getting so big" Hadrian said cuddling his godson, who had changed his hair and eye colour to match Hadrian's. "And you can change your eye colour, that's great Teddy but can you make them go back to normal."

"Hello Harry" Andi said watching amused. "He's slowly getting control. He can change his skin colour too. He made himself look Chinese the other day after we met a new friend in the park."

"Oh dear" Hadrian said. "Does that mean he needs the suppressant potions every time he goes out in the muggle world?"

"I'm afraid so and he does hate taking them" she said.

"In that case can I indulge the two of you in a lovely picnic in the back yard?" Hadrian said pulling a shrunken picnic basket out of his pocket.

"I think that's a good idea" Andi said impressed by how willing Harry was to change his plans to suit his godson. They went out into the garden and Hadrian transfigured some firewood into muggle style climbing equipment suitable for a child Teddy's age setting safety charms around the whole thing to prevent the little boy from falling. Teddy had a marvellous time exploring it carefully watched by the two adults as they talked.

"I could visit weekly though it might be better not to stick to a strict schedule and to make sure you don't tell Teddy in advance when I was coming so he can't accidentally tell someone like the Weasleys" Hadrian suggested.

"We rarely see the Weasleys or Miss Granger since you left the country" Andi replied. "Molly came around and interrogated me over tea a couple of days after you visited last but I didn't know where you'd gone, and Miss Ginny for all her gushing about Teddy and doting on him in your presence is never at all interested in him when you're not here."

Hadrian nodded unsurprised. "I've found out that nearly all the things I thought I knew about Ginny were wrong" he said. "Once the love potions were flushed from my system, I didn't love her, I didn't desire her at all and I didn't even like her as a friend. She was using me and I'm still not sure why. The fame was part of it, she loved being 'the-man-who-conquered's girlfriend but there must have been more to it."

"She also had a hero complex. She believes you saved her life" Andi said.

"I did when she was eleven" Hadrian confirmed.

"Deliberately went out of your way to save her because it was her?" Andi asked pointedly.

"I went down the chamber with Ron to save his little sister" Hadrian answered.

"So it was a little personal but it wasn't because you had feelings for Ginevra herself?" Andi confirmed.

"I barely knew her. She was so nervous around me that she couldn't speak" Hadrian said chuckling at the memory of the beet red little girl with her elbow in the butter dish. It was slightly mean of him to find it funny and he hadn't at the time.

"We've gotten off the topic. I was asking how safe it would be to come and visit every week?" Hadrian said.

"Pretty safe, I don't get many visitors, and most of them would be my generation" Andi replied. "I am surprised not to see more of Miss Granger, I thought she genuinely cared about her godson."

"She was obsessed with some research project when I left" Hadrian said. "She loses track of everything when she's researching and probably has no idea how long it's been since she saw Teddy."

"So she still might decide to visit one day?" Andi said.

"Yes but I think she'd keep my visiting a secret if we asked her to. If she sees me, I'll ask her for a vow of secrecy and explain that it will hurt her godson if she doesn't vow because I won't come back without it. That would work at least the first time anyway even if she won't vow she wouldn't think it worth staking the place out if I say I won't be back. I have a reputation for stubbornly doing what I say I'll do even when I know it might not be in my best interest" Hadrian said wryly.

Andi laughed. "Nymphadora had that stubbornness too. It's a Black family trait."

"My father had it too so it's also a Potter family trait" Hadrian replied.

"Your father's mother was a Black" Andi reminded him.

A/N: Thank you to julschristine975, xDarklightx, Guest, PickACrimeShowOrBook, Rori Potter, bluestorm28, Silvermane1, Afrodity, buterflypuss, acherongoddess, Maben00, gaul1, Locket1, Firehedgehog, Yokiryuu, charm13insomnia, gabrieljuarezl, Merlenyn, BigVampyreSister, DS2010, lillisa34, geetac, KoreanMusicFan, Guest, VINCATH, himeichigo69, Naevys, spencerharris401, tygressangel, Baseele, BLPotter, horsegirlsa, weckwess, fanfictionnatic, mariaco, dvildead, antaress09, irongale, Centaurea, Starlightthedark, DarkDragonessFliesEveryWhere, FallenSoul62, newmanlillian4, 13th Deathly Hallow, Menjiko, Akinom.83, Gravedigger88, moon cutie, Kaderos, Anastasiya2104, ArcherOfEarth, ajanel, Dia Regan, StrawberryBlondeBookworm, djmonk, shanayujichan, Rebelgirl01, doxiesmom14, anakin potter evan, White chocolate cheesecake, drake305, Smurfanator and Iodyn for your support.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or NCIS or any of their characters.

A/N: I recently read a story which I had read in the past though both the title and the name of the person posting it were different. When I accused the new 'author' of plagiarism they replied that they never claimed to have written the story and the original owner "never said that i couldn't share the story it's self. Beside's they put it out their for people's entertainment if they wanted people to know who wrote it they would tell." They then proceded to tell me off for making a false accusation. Needless to say I then reported them.

So to make it perfectly clear. THIS IS MY STORY AND NOBODY HAS PERMISSION TO POST IT ANY WHERE ELSE OR REPOST IT ON THIS SITE UNDER ANY NAME. And I stand by my words that only a despicable human being would steal another person's work in this way.

A/N2: For anybody who has read or followed my other stories please be aware that I am not updating them just adding the above notification of ownership over the next day or so. I apologise for any disappointment or inconvenience.

Chapter 12

Teddy went down for a nap after lunch and Hadrian prepared to leave. "Thanks for today" he said to Andi. "But you know, you don't have to stay with us the whole time. I'd be fine looking after him if you wanted to get your hair done or visit the dressmakers or something. I can do any day next week except Friday. Let me know what day suits you."

"I'm sure you can look after him as well as I can" Andi agreed. "Shall we aim for Thursday next week. Are you coming here again or would you like him to come to you?"

"I'll come here to visit. I won't subject him to an international portkey until he's old enough to stay a couple of weeks or more" Hadrian said decisively.

Andi smiled. "You know that won't be until he's ten?" She said.

"Any younger and I'd have to come and travel with him anyway so to would mean more portkeying for me, not less" Hadrian replied shuddering at the idea of four portkeys in one day. "The portkey officer did assure me I'd get used to it" he added hopefully.

"They sell a lot of international portkeys?" Andi asked.

"No but their country is so huge that from the east coast England is closer than the west coast of America and they sell a lot of transcontinental portkeys" Hadrian explained. "How is Teddy with being apparated? I might try to find some scarcely populated national park areas to explore with him. Or I could disguise myself and take him to magical areas."

"You know you don't have to take him places all the time. Teddy will be happy just to picnic out here, particularly with the climbing equipment."

"I didn't make it permanent but it should safely last at least two or three days" Hadrian warned her.

"I'll vanish it tomorrow night then" Andi replied, grateful for the warning. "And you can make him a new one next time you come, that way it will always be a novelty."

"I'd like to take him out places too. I want him to have all the experiences I heard about as a kid" Hadrian said.

"He'll enjoy them much more when he's a little older" Andi told him gently.

-o0o-

Hadrian arrived home sick to his stomach from the portkey. He checked the time and quickly turned back a several hours with his time-turner to give himself an hour to rest before going downstairs and cooking breakfast with Tim.

"Hey Hades. You look exhausted. Have you at least got tomorrow off?" Tim asked as he let himself into the flat. They'd exchanged keys when Hadrian moved up into his own apartment and Tim had told him to let himself in whenever he wanted.

"Yeah thank Merlin" Hadrian replied tiredly.

"That's a strange expression. Is it new British slang? I've never heard anyone else say it" Tim commented.

Hadrian froze for a second. "I guess it's a boarding school in joke. The school was in an old medieval castle and things were all done the old fashioned way. The headmaster was old enough to have known Merlin personally and kind of looked like him too." Hadrian lied trying to explain it.

Tim laughed. "I'm sure he seemed that old to a bunch of teenagers" he said.

Hadrian laughed too. "Yeah but he really was old as dirt. Way beyond the normal retiring age but he'd been living and working in the school since his early twenties and he had too much charisma for anyone to kick him out though the deputy did most of the day to day running of the school."

"It sounds like a very strange school. Why would anyone would send their children to a school like that?" Tim asked questioningly.

"About three quarters of the students are legacy students. My father's ancestors have been attending the school for hundreds of years. My Mother was a scholarship student. (Not really but this was the best way to describe muggleborns without mentioning magic.)

"How do the scholarship students fit in?" Tim asked. He could understand the families wanting their children to go to the same school they'd gone to though he would have thought they'd be aware of the educational deficits and want to do something about it but the scholarship students would be smart. Surely they deserved better than a second rate education.

"Not all that well, they are looked down on by nearly half the school for not having the ancestry or for not knowing all the inside information about the way things are done. Hogwarts doesn't react well to new ideas" Hadrian replied pulling a face.

"Would you want to send your children there?" Tim asked.

"I can't imagine being in a position to have children" Hadrian replied. "But no if I do they won't go to Hogwarts. It's complicated. My godson Teddy will though, it's important to his grandmother."

"From some of the things you've said the world you lived in sounds more like a cult than a community" Tim observed.

"Yes a bit. Though it wasn't at all religious" Hadrian admitted. "Most of them are vaguely pagan if anything though that doesn't really go with the Victorian morality thing they've got going on."

"So then these terrorists you've mentioned fighting before you left England were trying to take over leadership of the cult?" Tim asked.

"Yes, but only as a first step towards taking over the world" Hadrian replied. "Less than half their kills were among the community."

Tim remained silent worried that his earlier comments might have seemed dismissive of the seriousness of the terrorist cell Hadrian had taken down. The problem was that those sorts of things were usually at least heard of amongst the international law enforcement community even if the details were classified and there was just nothing about a terrorist war in Britain except for the ongoing struggle with the IRA which didn't seem to have made any progress recently. They spent the rest of the evening in silence though Hades didn't notice Tim's concerns and wasn't uncomfortable.

-o0o-

Tim also kept his promise about teaching Hadrian to drive. He and Hadrian had visited the car yards and Hadrian had bought a beat up but mechanically well maintained small red car which he put specialised cushioning charms all over to reduce the impact if he did have an accident. (He'd also broken the law to place the same charms on Tim's Porsche one night while Tim was asleep and on one of the NCIS vehicles one day when Tim picked him up while driving it). The first couple of driving lessons were frustrating as Hadrian learned how to shift gear and the basic handling, the instincts that made him so good on a broomstick didn't seem to transfer over to driving a car. He improved as he went along but learning to drive turned into a slow process as both Tim and Hadrian became busier at work. They still managed to eat together several nights a week and drive in together most mornings but anything more than that was out of the question most days.

Months passed in their comfortable routine broken up only by cases that came and went on both sides, though Tim had more trips away than Hadrian because Hadrian had the ability to use his time-turner to prevent the hours he worked from stopping him from spending time with Tim and Teddy. Hadrian spent less and less time in his own apartment and more at home with Tim. When Tim suggested he just give it up and move in with him he laughed and told him that there was no room for all his stuff. Often he only went upstairs to practice magic that wasn't easily concealed and to get his potions as he needed them.

The only nights he didn't spend down in Tim's apartment were the night's Tim went out with Tony or Abby or the team to a pub or club so there wouldn't be any awkwardness if Tim brought someone home. Just the thought of it hurt Hadrian's heart a little but he knew that he needed to give Tim the opportunity of finding someone he loved, no matter how much he'd be hurt if it happened, he wanted his friend to be happy. Tim never bought anyone home though as far as he knew, and Hadrian gradually started to hope he never would. Hadrian himself rarely went out without Tim. His classmates at school were all too young to go out and he felt like he was decades older than them, and he'd barely got to know his fellow junior aurors. The American Aurors had trained in peacetime and while Hadrian had some work to do to learn all the paperwork and investigative procedures his skill with both defensive and offensive spells left them for dead. They also seemed to lack the maturity of his fellow aurors in England though most of them were older than Hadrian and his friends back home. Tim though more than ten years older than Hadrian was emotionally and experience wise far more his equal.

Tim of course didn't know much about a lot of Hadrian's experiences since they were not only covered by the statute of secrecy but had classified by MI7 as well. He recognised the thoughts and attitudes of an experienced fellow law enforcement officer and former soldier though and while Hadrian looked a lot younger than the NCIS agent, Tim rarely noticed the age difference unless it was pointed out to him by some bystander. They were both at the same place in their lives ready to settle down to a permanent relationship and start a family, each hoping that they could do that with each other but afraid to bring it up for fear of ruining what they already had.

-o0o-

Ainsley Anderton had been right about the public relations nightmare that selecting Ginny would have been. As time passed without any sign of Harry Potter returning to England. Rumours of the girl accosting him in the Auror headquarters leaked out and she became one of the most hated young women in England, ranked right under Pansy who was known to have encouraged everyone at Hogwarts to hand Harry over to Voldemort during the Battle of Hogwarts. She found it impossible to even get a tryout with any of the other quidditch teams and wasn't having any luck finding a job anywhere else. She'd planned on becoming the Lady Potter and playing quidditch for a few years so she hadn't put serious effort into her studies and her NEWT results hadn't been good enough for a ministry position or an apprenticeship. Now she needed to find a job to support herself until Harry came back she was regretting that. She applied for several positions in shops on Diagonal Alley. Even the darker shop owners suspected of secretly supporting Voldemort's ideology, who were glad Potter had disappeared, wouldn't employ her. One job she didn't really want but had applied for because she was becoming desperate, was in an apothecary where the owner warned her off. "Frankly Miss you don't want to work here. The last thing you need with your current notoriety is for people to associate you with potions. People will start to believe you potioned the-man-who-conquered" he said bluntly.

"I need somebody with an even temper" another shop owner stated. "Somebody who will be able to stay calm and be polite no matter how rude the customers get towards them and work towards a positive outcome instead of losing their temper."

Even her brothers had to give up giving her work in their shop because having her there was bad for business though they still offered her some small jobs restocking the shelves at night and helping out with producing the items and potions. Molly tried to keep her busy around the house and get her interested in learning a hobby or a skill, but Ginny had no interest in domestic tasks and spent more and more time out with what friends she had left.

-o0o-

"Do you have plans for Thanksgiving?" Tim asked at the start of November.

"What's thanksgiving?" Hadrian asked.

"I forgot you wouldn't have celebrated it. It's an American holiday traditionally when the pilgrims gave thanks to the Indians for saving them from starvation.

Now for most people it's an opportunity to get together with family and eat too much turkey."

"Cynical" Hadrian commented. "Didn't the pilgrims deliberately give the Indians smallpox to kill them off?"

"Yes but most people choose not to remember that" Tim replied.

"History is written by the victors?" Hadrian asked, wondering what the history books would have said about him if Voldemort had won.

"Yeah well, lunch with my family never went well. And not being able to go because I'm working used to annoy them too" Tim said flatly.

"Are you off this Thanksgiving?" Hadrian asked.

"Yeah, we're rostered on for Christmas and New Year instead" Tim said. "What about you?"

"I don't know, I'm happy to work Thanksgiving to give someone who celebrates it off, particularly if you're going home for the long weekend" Hadrian replied.

"I'm not going home. My father and I aren't exactly on civil speaking terms" Tim replied.

"What about the rest of your family?" Hadrian asked.

"I'll go and take my sister out for dinner one day the week after Thanksgiving if we don't get a case. I'd like to see Mom but it would be too awkward" Tim replied.

"What about Christmas?" Hadrian asked.

"Ducky usually hosts some sort of pot luck dinner for those of us who have nowhere else to go. If we're working it will be more like a supper provided we don't have a case" Tim said. "I'd be happy to ask Ducky if you could come if you're here for Christmas."

"I'll find out my schedule but I'd like to spend Christmas with my godson if I can" Hadrian replied smiling at his friend gratefully. "Does Ducky do anything to celebrate Thanksgiving?"

"He probably will but the team all expect me to go home for the holidays if we're off roster" Tim replied.

"So where do you usually go for the holidays?" Hadrian asked.

"Nowhere in particular. Sometimes I go back to Boston and catch up with some old friends from college, but they have their own lives."

"Well we can spend Thanksgiving together, though I may have to work part of it" Hadrian offered.

-o0o-

Hadrian ended up rostered to work the entire Thanksgiving weekend, covering for Aurors who wanted time off to spend with their families. In return he was given Christmas Eve and Christmas Day off to visit his family. He'd talked Tim into admitting to his team that he wasn't going home for the holiday and Ducky had happily included him into his celebration. So Tim went alone to Ducky's Thanksgiving dinner though Hadrian had made the pumpkin pie he took with him. Tim felt slightly guilty about letting Hadrian cook for a party he wasn't attending, but Hadrian told him that he enjoyed making something new and had made one to share with his own work colleagues as well. He also gave Tim a large bottle of spiced pumpkin juice to take and share. Once he got off work he and Tim had their own private celebration both thinking that the biggest thing they had to be thankful for that year was each other and their friendship.

-o0o-

Christmas shopping with Tim was a bit of an adventure. Hadrian was careful not to buy anyone in England anything distinctly American but had fun buying Teddy some semi educational toys and new play clothes. He kept an eye on what Tim was looking at trying to work out which things he might like for himself but soon realised that Tim tried very hard to give each person something they themselves would have chosen which didn't help him at all in finding the perfect gift. In the end they bought each other several small things to use while together.

They went to Carols by Candlelight in their local park, both admitting that while they enjoyed the fancy carol ceremonies on the TV they'd rather this small community celebration.

Tim persuaded Hadrian to celebrate Christmas with him the weekend before so they made the effort to have all their shopping, decorating and baking done by then so they could spend the whole weekend together celebrating. Tim talked about the traditions his family followed and Hadrian confided in Tim about the excitement of his first real Christmas at Hogwarts and the effort his Godfather had made that one Christmas they were able to spend together. Tim wanted to make this Christmas equally memorable for his friend and they decorated the apartment within an inch of its life. Tim offered to help decorate Hades' apartment as well but Hadrian couldn't see the point when he was planning to spend Christmas with Tim and then Teddy.

They opened their gifts with pleasure, both having bought the other several small practical gifts. Tim received a book he'd mentioned wanting to read, a new warmer scarf and mittens, a warming pad for the seat of his car and an extension for his favourite computer game. He gave Hadrian some DVDs for them to watch together, new warmer pyjamas to lounge around in, an American classics cookbook and some small items for the kitchen that he'd been trying to make do without.

Hadrian cooked them a big traditional British Christmas Lamb Roast with Yorkshire Pudding, baked ham and homemade sausage rolls on the side followed by Christmas pudding and brandy custard and they both ate until they felt slightly ill before curling up on the bed to watch Christmas movies. Not being the real Christmas they couldn't go to Christmas services but neither really missed them. It was the perfect Christmas and they almost forgot it was only the 22nd of December.

-o0o-

By comparison Tim's Christmas day was quite dismal. They caught a case on the 24th that they didn't solve until the 26th and then all went their separate ways to collapse with exhaustion. Tim managed to find time to ring his mother, grandmother and sister who all thanked him enthusiastically for their gifts and expressed concern that he was at work and sounding so tired and stressed.

Hadrian had a very energetic Christmas morning. He'd been up late visiting with Andi and helping her decorate the tree and the house after Teddy went to sleep only to be woken before dawn by the excited toddler. Hadrian took lots of pictures laughing ruefully when all the expensive gifts were ignored in favour of the brightly coloured wrapping paper and boxes. Unfortunately, it was a slightly cranky toddler who sat down for lunch having been over excited all morning and in the end Andi put him down for his nap while the two adults ate and warmed up his Christmas dinner for tea that night.

Hadrian arrived back in Silver Springs to find Tim passed out on his bed still fully dressed. He carefully pulled off his shoes and socks and unfastened his tie and his belt not trusting himself to undress the man any further and sat reading in the adjacent room listening to Tim's regular breathing. He didn't know anything about the case they'd been working on and wanted to be there in case Tim had a nightmare.

-o0o-

Hadrian had been writing to Hermione, Neville and Luna through Gringotts and the three of them corresponded sporadically. Hermione had kept her word not to tell the Weasleys she was in contact with him until her wedding invitation arrived with a note from Ron stating that he expected his best mate to be there but was sure Harry would understand that he'd chosen his brothers to be best man and groomsmen seeing as Harry was out of contact. Hadrian sighed he didn't want to miss his best friends' wedding but given he couldn't trust either of the female Weasleys he wasn't too keen on attending any function at the Burrow where they controlled the wards. He wrote back to Hermione promising that he would be at the wedding unless an emergency arose at work but asking that she didn't tell any of the Weasleys, including Ron. Hermione reluctantly agreed and added him to her family list as a plus one, but Hadrian doubted she could withstand the manipulative assault of Molly and Ginny if they had reason to believe she was in contact with Harry.

Hadrian organised an international portkey that would take him to within a 100 metres of the Burrow ward boundary. The American portkeys were slightly different to those made in Britain and Hadrian was curious whether that difference was enough that British portkey wards wouldn't work against it. He hoped he didn't need to find out but borrowed a wardbuster from his handlers at MI7 just in case, though he would be reluctant to blow up the Burrow wards like that if it could be avoided. He used glamours to travel to Diagon Alley to buy dress robes and shoes for the occasion after visiting Teddy one day, not wanting to risk his clothing looking American, since he had heard Lavender and Parvati comment on the national origin of clothes in the past and didn't know enough about fashion to tell the difference. As a wedding gift he planned to give them a two-bedroom flat in one of the small lanes off Diagon Alley.

Hadrian arrived moments before the start of the wedding, his hair glamoured Weasley orange, and looked around impressed. Mrs Weasley had outdone herself even more than she had for Bill's wedding, the garden looked tidy and elegant, nothing like the Weasley yard normally did. He walked calmly to the seat beside Hermione's parents that the Grangers had saved for him before dropping his glamour.

"Hello Harry. It's good to see you made it" Emma Granger said smiling. "I don't believe you've met my Mother. Frances Puckle, Mum this is Hermione's best friend Harry Potter."

"Hello Mrs Granger. Pleased to meet you Mrs Puckle. How's Hermione this morning?" Hadrian asked.

"She was worried you wouldn't be able to come" Emma said. "Other than that she had very few wedding day jitters. She seems happy."

"Yet you don't. If you don't mind me saying so" Hadrian said gently.

"Ron is a very nice young man, but he's so uncomfortable in our world" Emma said slowly, surprised how observant the young man was. "I can't help but think we're going to lose her to this world more and more. Hermione's children, our grandchildren, will grow up in this world and I can't follow them here. It's been my biggest fear since the Christmas she arrived home in her first year."

Hadrian wanted to reassure her but she was right, Ron had made no effort to become more familiar with the muggle world in spite of having two muggle raised best friends, and Hermione with her habit of losing herself in her research could easily lose touch with anyone who didn't go out of their way to force her to take a break and keep in contact, something her parents were unable to do.

"Every magical residence has a muggle address too. Most witches and wizards just don't bother to know them. I'd suggest when you visit Hermione's new place you walk around the neighbourhood until you have enough information to know how to get there the muggle way. Besides I think they'll be living just off Diagon Alley and you know how to get in there. Tom will always be willing to help you" Hadrian reminded Emma.

Emma smiled at him in gratitude but before she could say anything else the wedding march started to play.

Hermione came down the aisle interrupting their conversation and Hadrian grinned at her as she passed. Her eyes lit up even more when she saw he'd made it.

Hadrian found the ceremony vaguely disturbing. Particularly the surge of magic as Hermione vowed to love cherish and obey forsaking all others. Even more disturbing was the fact Ron didn't make the same vows to her.

"What's wrong Harry, you were frowning through half the ceremony?" Hermione's grandmother asked.

"I thought wedding vows were supposed to be the same for the husband and the wife" Hadrian said vaguely.

"Oh no the traditional vows always have the man promising to cherish and the woman to obey" Frances Granger replied. "It is a little old fashioned though. I wouldn't have thought Hermione would go with the old vows."

"What's really wrong?" Daniel Granger asked quietly.

Hadrian debated with himself whether to tell Dan his concerns but realised him not understanding could cause problems between Hermione and her parents in future. "The vows were magical. She vowed on her magic to forsake all others and to obey Ron, and he didn't vow forsaking or obeying" he answered equally quietly.

"What can we do?" Daniel asked.

Hadrian thought quickly. "Nothing. This is the reason there's no divorce in the wizarding world. Just keep in mind when she gives you the excuse that Ron doesn't want her to do something that means she doesn't have a choice and arguing with her is only going to hurt your relationship with her."

Daniel looked grim. "I'll try to remember" he said frowning.

A/N2: Thank you to Firehedgehog, julschristine975, Maben00, Twiki25000, icyquest4, xDarklightx, geetac, writer2000z, Lotty7, DS2010, Rori Potter, acherongoddess, Guest, linthailey, gaul1, buterflypuss, Merlenyn, Guest, Silvermane1, patiana, quatra888, elmms, hiei'smate, schiezca, Miyako Yukimura, Mwhahahaha18, RedGlass, JasminJoJo, Venus914, SilverPantherSM, aminoor, Dragonknight-Flameis, gerhertz, forestreject, jetbstraub, mkx, matechan, Mechrin, MiSs TiNk PiXiE, Carl-the-strange, Seraphinus, CaughtinalandSlide, Skalyann, AnomalyLady, Johannaurora, inconnumasque, Raidermae, lolichka, naokinaozumi1508, Xiaron, demonchild000 and the0truht for your support.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or NCIS or any of their characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do NOT give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

"What did you say to my father? He's been glaring at Ron since you spoke to him after the ceremony" Hermione asked as she greeted him.

"I explained magical wedding vows" Hadrian replied. "I was trying to help him understand why things will change so much now your married because you have to obey Ron even when you don't agree. I was just trying to help you avoid falling out with your parents Hermione. I'll ask him to stop glaring at Ron but he's pretty upset about it all."

"You didn't need to tell him" Hermione said angrily.

"Maybe not but you should've" Hadrian retorted. "What happens if Ron refuses to let them visit you. They weren't going to understand that you literally have no ability to ignore what he says."

Hermione paled, she hadn't realised how restrictive the wedding vows could be. "He wouldn't" she whispered.

"I hope not Hermione but your parents needed to know he could, even if it's just to make them less likely to offend Ron. You know what he can be like when he loses his temper" Hadrian replied seriously. "Now I need to stop hogging you before he forbids you from contacting me."

"I still haven't told him we've been writing though I suppose he'll know now since you turned up as my Grandma's 'plus one'. I'm sorry you'll have to sit with them at dinner instead of your friends but it was the only way to get you on the list for dinner without a name without making Molly suspicious" Hermione replied.

"I like your family Hermione, it's no hardship to sit with them" Hadrian said grinning. "I'll talk to you later."

After greeting Ron quickly, and nodding to the twins as they grinned at him, Hadrian moved away from the Weasleys and joined Neville and Luna.

"Hey Harry I wondered if you'd come after all the trouble Ginny and the Weasleys caused" Neville said.

"I'm not comfortable being here but I couldn't miss Hermione's wedding" Hadrian replied.

"Hermione's wedding, not Ron and Hermione's wedding?" Neville asked.

"After he punched me in the face in front of everyone because he believed his sister was pregnant even though he knew the reasons I cancelled my engagement I wouldn't have risked being this close to Ginny and Molly if he'd been marrying someone else" Hadrian said bluntly. "He's still my friend, and I don't want him put in the middle of this fight between me and Ginny but he put himself there."

"He's been infected by Wrackspurts" Luna said. "Be careful because I see them around all Ginny's brothers Harry. There must be a nest in their house somewhere."

"I hope that's all it is Luna" Harry said smiling at his eccentric friend.

"There are quite a few people here surprised you didn't bring a date. There have been rumours about love potions and elopements" Neville said.

"No, I'm not seeing anyone, Ginny started the rumour" Hadrian said confident he was correct.

"Are you sure?" Neville asked. "I admit it makes sense that she would. She's still insisting that your break up is a temporary misunderstanding."

"It would make it more difficult for Harry to accuse them of using a love potion if he changes his mind again" Luna said perceptively.

"Not necessarily, hair testing can prove how long I was potioned for and I have vials of potions that I found hidden at Grimmauld place stored in my vault keyed specifically to make me fall for Ginnywith a signed statement as to where and when they were found" Hadrian said. "Not to mention Robbards has one of them along with a lock of hair and my official statement made before I left the country. I chose not to press charges to avoid destroying the rest of the family. That doesn't mean I didn't take steps to protect myself. The Goblins also know not to let any witch claiming to be my wife or betrothed have access to my vaults or assets whether I'm dead or alive, unless they have proven that I'm free of all potions, mind control spells and any other form of behavioural tampering they can think of."

"You might want to let Ginny and Molly know that some how. I'll try to squash the rumours of you being potioned by some foreign hussy. You turning up here on your own and still avoiding Ginny will help" Neville said. The Longbottom heir had grown from an insecure boy into an astute man well able to use pureblood politics and the ever present rumour mill against his enemies even though he never espoused their beliefs.

Hadrian grinned at the thought of Tim being referred to as some foreign hussy. "I'll ask the goblins to leak the information to Bill" he suggested.

Neville and accompanied Harry as he circulated among the other guests, steering him away from Ginny and Molly while Luna ran interference.

"If you try to make a scene, Harry will leave, and Ron and Hermione will not forgive you for driving their best friend away again" Luna said clearly. Several of their other friends overheard and helped Luna keep Ginny away from Harry.

Molly tried to approach but was headed off by Kingsley. "Stay away from him Molly" Kingsley warned. "He isn't going to marry Ginny of his own free will and everybody knows it. If you try to potion him again he won't need to press charges, I'll have you arrested myself. This is your son's wedding do you really want Ron to remember today as the day his mother was arrested for potions abuse and line theft."

Arthur had come to see what his wife and Kingsley were talking about so seriously. "Molly I ordered you not to interfere. Ginny's here with her new boyfriend, she's over Harry and I need to you to get over this silly dream of yours."

"I just wanted to say hello and make sure he's all right. Heaven knows where he's living now"

"He's fine Molly, we're in regular contact and he's in a lot less danger than he was here in Britain. It's been good for him" Kingsley said. "He's doing well Molly among people he can trust. Stay away from him he's not here to see you, he's here for Ron and Hermione's sake."

"Stay away from him Molly, you've done enough damage" Arthur ordered.

They were called to take their seats for the meal and Hadrian cheerfully re-joined the Grangers becoming an attentive date for Hermione's grandmother to the family's amusement.

"It's a pity Hermione had to add you as my date. A young man like you must have someone they wanted to spend the evening with other than me" Frances Puckle said.

Hadrian laughed good naturedly and shook his head. "My ex and her family would have torn apart any girl I might have brought and I live mostly in the muggle world these days. I don't drive and I don't even know how to find this place by mundane transport"

"You'd have to be pretty serious about a girl before you're allowed to tell her about magic?" Dan asked.

"Worse, according to British law, you're not allowed to tell anyone you're not legally related to so you can't tell her until after you're married" Hadrian replied.

"That's a hell of a way to ruin a honeymoon" Emma said.

"Yeah" Hadrian agreed. "I don't think I could lie to someone I loved for that long either."

"I can understand now why Hermione said it was too hard to date muggles" Emma said.

"Harry doesn't find it impossible" Dan countered.

"That's because after Ginny betrayed me like she did, I don't trust witches. I'm really famous in this world after defeating Voldemort and due to inheriting my parents' and godfather's estates and titles one of the richest unmarried wizards in Britain. I don't know how many of the witches who want to date me actually like Harry the person not the man who conquered or Lord Potter. In the muggle world I'm Harry the nineteen-year-old who works long hours and can't afford a car. It's very freeing."

Frances laughed. "That would certainly get rid of the gold diggers" she said. "So is there a special someone."

"There is someone I'd like to ask out but I'm afraid of ruining our friendship" Hadrian replied.

"Life's too short to waste it hesitating. If this girl is as good a friend as you think she is then asking her out won't hurt that" Frances said gently.

Hadrian smiled. "I'll think on it" he promised.

"Why is Dean glaring at me?" Hadrian asked noticing as he sat watching the dancing later that evening after dancing with Frances and Emma.

"He's infested with Nargles" Luna replied calmly.

"He's here as Ginny's date" Neville explained.

"He doesn't need to feel threatened by me. I'm only here for the day" Hadrian said.

"Yes but who knows what she's told him" Neville replied.

"True she's not one to let the truth get in the way of seeing things the way she wants them to be" Hadrian said chuckling.

"Don't let it worry you the Blibbering Humdingers will tell him the truth soon and he'll see her for what she is" Luna said serenely.

Hadrian smiled. "I won't worry Luna" he said affectionately.

"Hey Harry, thanks for coming" Ron came up and sat beside him at the bar.

"Hey Ron. Congratulations" Hadrian said offering him a manly one armed hug.

"Thanks bro. I'm sorry you couldn't be best man" Ron apologised. Hadrian was glad to see he was sincere, apparently at least one Weasley had forgiven him for refusing to be bullied into marrying Ginny.

"I'm sorry too but I didn't want your sister knowing in advance that I'd be here. I was worried what she might plan" Hadrian explained.

"Stay away from her Harry. She probably planned something in case you'd be here" Ron admitted. "I'm sorry for believing her that day."

"She's your sister Ron. And everyone knows that Weasleys are honest upstanding people. It's not your fault she turned into a liar" Hadrian said forgivingly. Time had allowed him to see the incident from his friend's side of things as well. If it had been Hermione claiming Ron had broken up with her and left her holding the baby he'd have more than just decked his best mate.

"Thanks mate" Ron smiled gratefully. "Thanks for the apartment too. Mum's upset we're not staying here of course but Hermione's thrilled to have her own place."

"Living with your in-laws is no way to start a marriage. I'm not sure I could even get it up knowing your mum would hear" Hadrian said. "Not to mention your Mum and Hermione are both strong willed women. Hermione will want to run her household her own way."

Ron cringed at the idea. "Right Mate!" he agreed blushing.

Hadrian ended up enjoying the reception thanks to his friends' interference though he found he couldn't let his guard down. He wondered whether the person who organised the attack the week before his engagement could be among the other guests. He began to appreciate how much safer he now felt hanging out with Tim in muggle Washington. He danced with Hermione and Luna as well as several other girls who willingly helped him avoid Ginny. Most of his old friends tried to convince him to join them at 'The Three Broomsticks' to kick on after the wedding but he planned to slip away hopefully unnoticed as soon as he'd said farewell to Hermione.

"Thanks for being so nice to my grandma" Hermione said. "She told me she had a lovely time. You made her feel young again."

"You're welcome. I liked her" Hadrian replied. "She's a lot like you."

"She told me you were going to date a muggle" Hermione questioned. "You know you won't be able to tell them about magic? I don't think you realise how hard that would be."

"A muggle can't potion me. At least I can trust how I'm feeling and hopefully I'll meet someone I can learn to trust" Hadrian replied.

"Oh Harry! Not all girls are like Ginny" Hermione exclaimed in dismay. "And what about the need for an heir?"

"I've blood adopted Teddy Lupin so he's the next Black heir but I can't stop the Malfoys from inheriting the earlship of Slytherin without having a child of my own or killing the lot of them" Hadrian said not mentioning that MI7 were considering doing just that. "Luckily there's no money or property left so it's just the title and the extra vote in the Wizengamot and I really have no problem with Neville's second son inheriting the rest though please don't tell anyone about that. I wouldn't want Nev to be attacked as well."

"I won't tell anyone but Harry you wanted a family" Hermione protested.

"I can always adopt, or marry a woman who already has a child. I've come to realise family is more than blood and I want a partner and children to love more than I want an heir for my estate" Hadrian said.

"Are you enjoying your new job? I can't believe I didn't even ask you about it" Hermione said.

"I am enjoying my new life more than the job. Aurorring is pretty much the same wherever you go" Hadrian replied vaguely. "I've gone back to school part time and I'm enjoying that."

"University?" Hermione said excitedly. "What's it like? I wish I had the time to go"

"High School" Hadrian said bluntly. "Hogwarts didn't prepare me for living in the muggle world, or attending university. And I've been taking some law classes through the Auror Academy so I can understand the differences between British law and my new country's laws."

"And you still won't tell me where you're living?" Hermione asked.

"I can't. You can't keep my secrets anymore Hermione. I'm sorry" Hadrian said firmly. "You can still contact me through Gringotts."

-o0o-

"How was the wedding?" Tim asked next morning when Hadrian came down to make breakfast, claiming to have no food in his own apartment. "You know you didn't need to sleep upstairs so you didn't disturb me? I wouldn't have minded been woken up." Tim hoped that was the only reason Hadrian hadn't stayed with him after the wedding.

"It was pretty late" Hadrian lied. With the time difference he'd left the Burrow at eleven and been home by six-thirty not that he could tell Tim that. He looked like he'd had a late night though from not sleeping well. Seeing the Weasleys again had brought on a series of nightmares which had been hard to deal with without Tim beside him.

"How was the wedding?" Tim asked again.

Hadrian frowned thoughtfully, there was too much about the wedding he couldn't tell Tim because of the magic. "It went off without a hitch. Hermione looked amazing" Hadrian said trying to grin. "She and Ron seem really happy. It was good to see her again and to catch up with what my friends have been doing."

"And your ex fiancé?" Tim asked warily.

"My ex and her mother were there of course but my friends and my former boss managed to keep them away from me. I didn't have much time to talk to Ron but Hermione and I had a good chat. I sat with her family for the ceremony and reception. Her father was a bit wary about the wedding but even he agreed she looked gorgeous and very happy. Other than that it was quite nice but a little disturbing to have my previous best friends married to each other, like I've been designated permanent third wheel. I guess I have been for a while actually, it's just more obvious now that I've not seen them for so long" Hadrian struggled to describe his feelings without giving away his secrets.

"You should invite them to come and visit, make them a part of your new life too" Tim suggested. "They could stay up in your empty flat."

Hadrian couldn't even imagine Ron in coping in non-magical Washington, let alone not raising Tim's suspicions. Tim would probably think that his friend had just escaped from long term incarceration for the mental lunatics which given his previous suspicions of Hadrian's schooling would lead him to think Hadrian could be mentally disturbed as well. Thinking back to some of the dangers he'd faced at Hogwarts Hadrian couldn't argue that he'd be completely wrong either.

"I think they've used up all their leave for the next year on their honeymoon" he replied. He would broach the idea with Hermione that if she ever became sure that Ron would cope for a week or two in a muggle flat in a strange country and was willing to swear not to tell his family where Harry was living that maybe then they could visit him. Of course he'd have to be able to convince his friends he didn't feel anything more than friendship for Tim while they were here which Hadrian had to admit was growing harder each day.

"How'd did you feel seeing your ex-fiancé again?" Tim asked concerned.

"If you're worried I still have feelings for her I don't. I didn't feel anything except a mild disgust that she could treat people that way and slight sympathy for the new boyfriend she was almost visibly leading around by the short an curlies. I actually felt more hurt at the sight of her mother. I honestly thought she thought of me as family before I started dating Ginevra. To find out it was a lie right from the start to set me up with her daughter crushed me" Hadrian replied calmly. "To know she looked at the malnourished and neglected eleven-year-old me and saw an opportunity to use that to manipulate me if she let it continue rather than saving me."

Tim hugged Hadrian close and rubbed his lips over the top of Hadrian's head. He had no words to help. Hadrian snuggled in drawing strength from Tim's embrace.

-o0o-

Hermione must have told Ron how she was communicating with Harry, and Ron must have passed the information along to the rest of his family, because about the same time she and Ron would've returned from their honeymoon Hadrian got word that several howlers had been sent to him via the bank. He was glad he hadn't caved under the pressure of her disappointment and told Hermione where he was living. The howlers themselves had self-destructed on being deactivated so the Goblins had no proof who'd sent them or record of what they'd said. Hadrian was grateful they couldn't be forwarded to him and sent word through the goblins to Hermione to tell the Weasleys that Howlers and cursed mail would not be forwarded to him as he was living in a muggle area.

After several more attempts to send howlers Ginny did eventually write him letters but they were so full of insults and an attempt to blackmail him into returning to marry her that he forwarded them both to Auror Robbards rather than responding and blocked all further communication from either with instructions that letters be opened and read and anything illegal be forwarded to the Aurors.

He heard from the twins turning over to him his share of the profits from his investment in Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes and declaring his partnership in the business to be ongoing no matter what their sister demanded. The goblins also reported preventing multiple pranked letters and objects from being forwarded to him and charging the Weasley twins account an exorbitant amount for the cost of removing the pranks on the Galleons before they were placed in his vaults. They also mentioned sacking one William Weasley for dereliction of duty after he erroneously declared the Galleons curse free.

Hadrian shook his head in disbelief, he'd know the eldest Weasley had been Ginny's favourite brother but had thought he had more sense than to risk his job when he had a family to support. Arthur sent him a letter asking him to intercede with the goblins on his son's behalf because none of the pranks would have harmed anyone but Hadrian replied that he had no wish to insult the goblins by questioning the way they conducted their affairs in the bank.

-o0o-

While all this was going on Hadrian finished his first year of high school and by taking a full load of summer classes as well managed to move into senior year. He'd also completed the law courses the Auror academy had required and resumed work as a fully qualified Auror investigator. He continued to visit Teddy and Andi weekly and began to worry about the elder witch's health and his godson's isolation. Andi understandably at her age had few friends who had young children and those friends who had grandchildren of an appropriate age didn't bring them to visit. Hadrian started feeding the metamorphmagus suppression potion to Teddy more often so he could take him to the park and other activities to encourage interaction with other children. He didn't want his godson to grow up having to wait until the train to Hogwarts to make his first friends and began to encourage Andi to send her grandson to muggle preschool when he was old enough.

-o0o-

Throughout this time, he and Tim continued to spend as much time as possible together including most nights and if one or the other woke up with an erection embarrassingly pressed into the other they both pretended not to notice and the awkwardness was short lived. They both also wished that the other's reaction was more than just the usual morning wood but neither had the self-esteem to believe it.

Tim noticed that he'd lost weight living on Hadrian's cooking and felt healthier for it. He cheerfully endured Tony's teasing on the subject and Ducky was extremely pleased with him at his annual physical. He and Hadrian began walking each evening they were home early enough which soon progressed to running as Hadrian admitted he needed to train to meet his own annual physical requirements. Hadrian found running a poor substitute for flying his broomstick but the company more than made up for that. He had found a place he was able to fly and snuck away at least once a week to put his new broom through its paces. He'd thought about joining an amateur quidditch team but decided that that might be one way the Weasleys would be looking for him.

Tim dragged Hadrian out clothes shopping ignoring his protests and claiming that it was Hadrian's fault that he needed smaller clothes therefore it was his responsibility to accompany him and protect him from the scary sales women. They had a lot of fun buying Tim a new wardrobe and Hadrian got to admire his friends slender new form, making him try on some ridiculous outfits just for fun. Tim retaliated forcing Hadrian into some very over the top gay outfits like skin tight bright pink jeans and a flowing poet's shirt Hadrian insisted made him look like a girl. Hadrian also bought a bicycle and talked Tim into buying one too, saying he'd always wanted to own a bike and have a friend to go cycling with. The fact that Tim also purchased and wore lycra bike pants to cycle in wasn't a hardship at all, though cycling was not exactly a comfortable thing to do with an erection.

A/N: Thank you to Village-Mystic, julschristine975, gaul1, xDarklightx, Maben00, DS2010, Lientjuhh, Rori Potter, acherongoddess, Merlenyn, Afrodity, buterflypuss, Avid Reader0907, Almonda, geetac, Locket1, forestreject, newmanlillian4, Silvermane1, Firehedgehog, mithrilandtj, GoldenTurboKeyblade, LittlePurpleWolf, blidvl21, shookj, Maevenn, ceraphim, merlin12345, Denato, MoonScion22, Gushlaw, zivababy32, eric12377, chavezveronica018, Jezebel9991, Esthel, redneck300, Naydra, xxwingsxx, Lonely Tigress, Kouichi1126, luna1324, ilovebdt2012, Ladey Devine, 2007, Dark Council Member Nox, AzrielSnape, Born-at-dawn, Fantasylover19, Theamazinggata, YoukaiLoverBoy, Lulzlullylulz, ForeverEmrys, Baravois, Potternatzu, giderasia, shambala, elerosse13, leighargeneau **,** Lunaria1147, fleah2, steelefanforever, Jake Crepeau, Kexul Bellcaunion, Blackstone4005, Orbdilandh, Nozomi Higurashi, Planchet, Alexa-Ray, FlameingWings and Trisoul for your support.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or NCIS or any of their characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do NOT give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

It took a couple of weeks for Flint and Travis to commit another crime that drew the Auror's attention quickly enough for them to be located before they left the scene. The first respondents managed to set up portkey and apparition wards before the perps finished torturing the family they'd been attacking and had surrounded the house waiting for them to emerge when Hadrian arrived.

"What's being done to try to save the family" Hadrian asked listening to a child screaming.

"SWAT will be here in five" Erik reported.

"The child will be dead before then" Hadrian argued. "I'm going in. Back me up."

"Wait!" Erik called as Hadrian walked away. Hadrian ignored him and blasted a hole in the side of the building and dove through it with his strongest shield up. He quickly identified the targets and started taking them out. The American wanna-be gang members lacked experience with people fighting back against them and fell easily but Travis put up a fight against Hadrian (not that he realised who he was) while Flint attacked Auror Johanson and his team. They managed to take them both down and once Hadrian had double checked they were secured and disarmed, including searching for portkeys and other magical objects he left the prisoners for the New York team to handle the transfer to the holding cells and started trying to help the victims.

The father was still conscious but beyond help, bleeding out from an entrails expelling curse too quickly for even magic to save. The mother had been severely tortured but after quick diagnostics for the official records, several carefully directed healing spells fixed the life threatening injuries so she would live. She would need mind healing to get over the torture but she should recover fully in time. He turned to find the child, from the pictures it looked like a daughter about eight. He cast a point me spell and followed it upstairs where he found the little girl sitting in her closet shakily holding a wand.

"Hey there. I'm an Auror, a magical policeman. You're Mum is going to be okay. She'll be in the hospital for a while but she will heal" Hadrian said gently. "Do you have a grandparent or Aunty or Uncle you'd like us to call to come look after you until your Mummy is better?"

"What about my Daddy?" the little girl asked.

"I'm sorry" Hadrian said.

The little girl evidently understood something bad had happened to her father and started to sob and Hadrian carefully lifted her out of the cupboard and carried her down the stairs and covered her eyes as he walked through the room the fight had been in and out the front door where he was met by the paramedics. "The scene is secure but the female vic in the front room is in need of your services" he said quietly. Once outside he could hear Auror Johanson arguing with someone about jurisdiction. He handed the child over to the second set of paramedics on scene and joined the discussion.

"This is a Naval Base. All crimes committed on the base are NCIS jurisdiction" the other man said, as Johanson's team and several other people stood watching.

"Two of the perpetrators have been on the British most wanted list for years for mass murder and treason. How about we handle the extradition and you can take care of the locals" Hadrian suggested.

"They killed a Naval officer, and his family" The NCIS leader protested.

Hadrian recognised Tim standing nearby and smiled at him slightly. "The officer yes unfortunately, but the wife's being assessed by the paramedics now and will probably spend several weeks in hospital and the daughter is more frightened than anything so I'd suggest you stop yelling before you frighten her further" Hadrian said calmly gesturing to the crying child the paramedics were trying to assess. "Can one of you stop this petty argument long enough to trace the child's grandparents or godparents. The sooner she has family here to support her the better."

Tim smiled to see Hadrian politely standing up to Gibbs.

Auror Johanson quickly directed his team in to try to find a cell phone or address book and contact the next of kin.

Gibbs however was less than impressed. "And you are?" he asked belligerently.

"Lord Evander MI7, working with the FBI to round up these fugitives" Hadrian said showing him his ID. "I'll arrange transport and collect my prisoners from your lockup at 0500 tomorrow" he said to Auror Johanson.

"We might need them to make our case" Erik Johanson protested.

"Your perps were caught red-handed torturing the wife and fired on federal agents. As the first agent onto the house my testimony will more than make up for the loss of Flint and Travis" Hadrian said unimpressed with the argument.

"I don't know that we can extradite them that easily. Official channels need to be followed" Erik reminded his young consultant.

Hadrian frowned. "Make it 0900 and I will have Sir Geoffrey Hobbs expedite the paperwork" he replied confidently.

"Why'd he introduce himself as Lord Evander?" Thaddeus asked once the NCIS team were out of hearing.

The other Aurors all shrugged their ignorance.

"Either he was pissed that Gibbs was being such a dick over jurisdiction or he mustn't have wanted to give Gibbs his name" Erik said dismissively.

"So he really is Lord Evander?" Thaddeus asked.

"It's possible, with all the families wiped out in the war, I've heard there are a lot of titles now in the possession of distant descendants" Erik replied. "If you have ancestors from Britain you could have a title yourself. If you're curious I'm sure you could have Gringotts run an Heirs test on your blood."

-o0o-

"I need to call in the obliviators" Erik grumbled looking around at the local police, paramedics and NCIS agents now crawling over the crime scene.

"For NCIS and the local law enforcement maybe" Hadrian said grinning. "Not for the family. I don't know about the parents but the kid's one of ours, it looks like she's just turned eight and gotten her wand. We need to look into that. That may be how they targeted this family. Oh and if you do obliviate Gibbs' team skip the blonde guy if you possibly can."

"He's a wiz?" Thaddeus asked.

"No and he doesn't know about magic either, but he is a friend and I'd rather not mess with his memory if you can avoid it. Let me know if you have to so I won't mention seeing him today if he doesn't remember."

"Sure" Thaddeus agreed grinning.

"If he doesn't know about magic, then we can't obliviate the rest of the team and leave him with memories the rest of the team no longer have" Erik said bluntly. "You know what that can do?"

Hadrian did know the type of paranoia that could cause, that was the sort of thing that gave rise to stories of being abducted by aliens. Of course there had also been a wizard serial rapist who liked to obliviate his victims and deliberately implanted false memories of alien experimentation to explain away the wounds he left and prevent the victims from being taken seriously by the police and avoiding Auror attention.

"Oh here's the diagnostic for the mother"

"And she's going to survive?" Thaddeus asked looking at it.

"She should, I healed up anything life threatening" Hadrian replied.

"Are we going to have to obliviate the whole hospital staff?" Erik asked wearily.

"I don't think so. I was pretty precise with the healing charms. Keep an ear out though, if I got it wrong they'll probably think that she was assaulted a couple of months ago or being abused by her husband and start asking questions about it. We'll need to sort that out pretty quick if it happens, they've been through enough."

Hadrian didn't get a chance to talk to Tim before he left though he was harassed by Tony as he was leaving.

"You've got nerve speaking to our illustrious leader like that" he said.

"He came storming onto my crime scene and instead of doing his job or trying to help the situation he started an argument with the people who were trying to do their jobs. I'm just grateful he wasn't here early enough to get the child and her mother killed" Hadrian replied frustrated.

"I didn't mean that/ I meant nobody ignores Gibbs like that. Nobody!" Tony said.

"I don't have to work with him" Hadrian pointed out.

Tony laughed. "Yeah you haven't made my life any easier today" he agreed ruefully. You're kind of young to be in charge?" Tony was curious, it made no sense why all the Feebs were deferring to the youngest one there, one who from the sound of his accent wasn't even one of them."

"It's my case. I came to the US to apprehend the traitors who fled here. I'm the expert in the British ringleaders of this group" Hadrian explained. He saw that Tim was right, this man in front of him as a shrewd investigator and an insightful reader of behavioural patterns. If he hadn't heard about the way the older man treated his friend he could have liked him enough to try to establish a friendship.

"You're very young to have been sent on an overseas mission like this" Tony replied.

Hadrian shrugged. "When you take out a terrorist cell leader and his lieutenants you earn the right to go after the small fish that got away."

"You took down a terrorist cell?" Tony asked astonished.

Hadrian glared at him. As much as the fame had annoyed him and caused problems with the people he worked with at least his abilities and accomplishments weren't questioned like this. "Yeah just because you were a spoiled little innocent until you finished college and the academy at what twenty three or four doesn't mean the rest of us have that luxury" he snapped before walking away.

Tony collected a head slap for baiting Hadrian. "Where does he get off. Titled snob"

"He is gainfully employed, unlike other young noblemen his age" Ziva said, unknowingly touching a nerve Hadrian had just poked. Tim kept his opinions to himself. He'd been amused when Hadrian had just barged into the argument over jurisdiction between the two team leads and just announced he was taking the prisoners he wanted. He also appreciated seeing the verbal slap down he'd given Tony. He just hoped that Tony didn't meet Hadrian again soon enough to recognise him.

-o0o-

Gibbs was furious the next morning when he went to interview the prisoners to find that the two Brits had already been transferred.

"We need to get their statements to close up our case. Otherwise these clowns may walk on a technicality" he yelled.

"Their taped confessions are here" Auror Johanson said handing over a copy that had been carefully edited to exclude all mention of magic. "We've already dispatched agents to apprehend the other members of the group."

"And are we going to be able to get them back to testify at trial?" Tony asked.

"That won't be necessary. We had a court judge there to authenticate the statements and they had defence lawyer representation" Erik replied.

"The defence lawyers will want to cross examine" Tony said.

"That won't be possible" Auror Johanson replied bluntly. "Those two men are part of a terrorist group responsible for thousands of deaths and a reputation for breaking their members out of jail. They'll tried by the military and quietly put to death for treason as soon it can be arranged. You wouldn't hold terrorists here in regular jails they could easy escape from so they could be part of a trial for the minor players. You'd send them to Gitmo and make your case against the two bit perps some other way"

"Since when do we care what the defence attorney wants?" Auror Thaddeus Billingsley asked.

"Since denying the defendants right to a fair trial will get the case thrown out" Gibbs answered.

"They were caught red handed and they've confessed to their crimes, There's more than enough evidence to convict them all without the two British fugitives" Auror Johanson reassured them.

"How the hell did you give the kid permission for them to be extradited?" Gibbs roared.

"The 'kid' as you call him has more clout than you would believe. The order came down from the president himself late last night. And I do mean that I received the orders via secure channel from President Bush himself" Auror Johanson replied. "Britain wanted them back and they were on their way as quickly as we could organise the transfer."

-o0o-

Hadrian had spent the whole night portkeying between London and Washington trying to set up the prisoner transfer, taking potions to deal with the lack of sleep and the side effects of multiple international portkeys so he'd be at his best to get the job done. The Americans were amused once he'd got the clearances he needed that he'd stunned Flint and Travers and transfigured each of them into a chess piece putting them in a box with what looked like the rest of the set.

"You're allowed to do that?" Thaddeus asked.

"This is my fifth international portkey in the last twelve hours. I don't want to risk them escaping because I'm exhausted" Hadrian retorted. "Besides they killed children. Becoming a chess piece for an hour or so is the least they deserve. It's a pity I can't play a game or two with them before I reverse the transfiguration."

Thaddeus laughed slightly uneasily.

-o0o-

"Potter, how's the liaison position going?" Auror Robbards asked as Hadrian walked into the ministry lockup. "Are you back for a while?"

"No I accompanied Travis and Flint back from Washington" Hadrian said as he pulled the chess set out of his pocket. He put one piece into each cell and untransfigured them.

"Interesting way to transport prisoners" Robbards said without censure.

"This is my third trip to London in the past twelve hours sorting out the paperwork so the American government would release them" Hadrian said. "I didn't want them to her away from me if they recovered from the portkey quicker than I did."

"It's very effective" Robbards admitted. "But why chess pieces?"

Hadrian shrugged. "I had to travel part of the way by muggle transport. Muggles play chess so they wouldn't think anything of me carrying a set, and wizards would expect it to be a wizarding chess set so the trace of magic coming off the pieces wouldn't attract their attention either."

"I might use that in future" Robbards said thoughtfully.

"It will only work until it becomes common knowledge" Hadrian warned.

"Good job catching these two" Robbards complimented.

"They were stupid they'd already attracted the attention of the Aurors for torturing muggles and new muggleborns" Hadrian said. "I'll trace the money and see if whomever helped them helped anyone else but I'm not holding my breath."

"It's still one possible pipeline for support shut down if the purebloods revolt again" Ribbards said.

"Do you think they will?" Hadrian asked, he hadn't heard anything about the threat.

"We have a whole generation who grew up believing Voldemort's doctrine that we can't do anything about until they break the law. Who knows what they'd do if someone tried to rally them to the cause" Robbards said practically. "The fact that you were attacked indicates there's still some wizards out there with a grudge and other than killing off their leader you haven't really done anything to draw retaliation like that."

"Have you found Healer Davis?" Hadrian asked hopefully.

"No the skunk has really gone to ground, but he's got to surface eventually and then we'll grab him" Robbards said reassuringly.

The problem with that was that Hadrian knew too much to be reassured by empty words. "Thanks."

-o0o-

Hadrian returned and went up to his apartment to collapse. He hadn't been as tired as this since the day of the final battle. Swallowing half a dose of dreamless sleep he slept most of the afternoon before returning to the New York field office to talk to Auror Johanson. He didn't want to see Tim until he'd been notified whether he and his team had been obliviated.

"You're in luck. We had a Legilimens scan the NCIS team and they didn't see anything they couldn't dismiss or explain away. Their Medical Examiner already knew about magic and agreed to help cover up if required, so we were able to avoid obliviating any of them" Erik said. "A couple of the local cops have had their memories slightly altered, but not enough to arouse suspicion."

Hadrian smiled in relief.

"He's important to you, the blond mundane?" Thaddeus asked.

"Yeah! He's my best friend in America" Hadrian replied.

-o0o-

Tim was surprised to find Hadrian home that night. "I thought you would have had to accompany those two prisoners back to London" he said.

"No they are on a military flight to England. My part is done, I can do more here looking into their financials to see who helped them resettle in this country and if they helped anyone else" Hadrian replied. In truth he had portkeyed the two Death Eaters to the holding cells underneath the British ministry of magic, met quickly with Kingsley and Robbards to hand over the evidence and Sir Geoffrey then portkeyed back but he could hardly tell Tim that. He thought back over his day. His meetings with his superiors had all gone well. They were impressed with his capture of the two fugitives and Edmund Clancy had sent positive reports of Hadrian's willingness to help out when required. "They'd given him some intel on a couple of the other Death Eaters that had managed to escape justice but none of them were thought to have made their way to America. He thought back to the conversation he'd had with the leader of MI7 earlier that day.

"I'm worried that I'm not really doing the job you sent me to do" Hadrian told Sir Geoffrey.

"You are improving international cooperation and understanding every time you interact with their Aurors" Sir Geoffrey replied.

"Yes but if you're hoping that I'll return and bring back their techniques and ways of doing things then I have to tell you that I'm honestly not sure I ever want to return to magical Britain to live" Hadrian replied.

"I'm not paying your salary, the Americans are, so don't worry about what you think I might want from you Harry" Sir Geoffrey reassured the younger man. "Our country owes you a great debt for your sacrifices in defeating Voldemort and this position was just as much about repaying that debt and giving you the chance to heal as it was catching the remaining Death Eaters or rebuilding relations with the Americans. Kingsley hopes that in a year or so you will come back and give some training sessions to the Aurors, but that would only be a couple of days every few months."

Hadrian nodded. "I could do that" he agreed.

"Well I'm glad you're not stuck in Britain for weeks until the trial Hades" Tim said smiling.

"I'll attend the trial via video conference" Hadrian replied. "I'm glad not to have to be there in person too."

"So you met my team, what did you think of them?" Tim asked.

"Your descriptions were very accurate" Hadrian replied diplomatically. "I don't think Gibbs or DiNozzo liked me though."

"No, and Gibbs likes you even less after you succeeded in absconding with 'his' suspects" Tim replied. "He was in a foul mood over it all day. The whole building could practically hear him yelling at the director this afternoon."

"I'm sorry if it gave you a bad day" Hadrian replied.

Tim laughed. "It did but that's okay. The amount of evidence you manage to collect on our perps in one night was amazing."

"Just luck" Hadrian dismissed. Veritaserum and magic truly did speed up investigations.

"Why did you give Gibbs a different name?" Tim asked.

"Mostly because I knew I was going to piss him off and I didn't want him to take it out on you if he'd heard my name before" Hadrian explained. "I didn't know if you'd mentioned me."

"You know this means I can't introduce you to the team any time soon now" Tim said slightly disappointed. He'd had no plans to introduce Hades to the team, he wasn't ready to expose either of them to the teasing and the perceptiveness of the investigators he worked with, but he was surprised how disappointed he was that he had to carry on keeping his friend a secret.

"Yeah I know it will be difficult but it's not like I actually lied to them" Hadrian replied. "It also means you don't have to be so careful mentioning me because they won't recognise the name. I was trying to make life easier for you."

"I don't think I have mentioned you to the team" Tim said, "But I may have, I often think about wanting to tell you things that happen during the day."

Hadrian nodded in understanding. He often felt like that too before he remembered Tim didn't know about magic and wouldn't understand his stories.

"So is Lord Evander a real title?" Tim asked curiously, remembering Hadrian telling him he had more than one legal name.

"Yeah, don't get too excited though, it's just an impoverished barony that I inherited from a distant relation whom I never met. I wasn't brought up to be a nobleman" Hadrian replied. "It makes a convenient second legal identity but other than that it's useless."

"But you could campaign for a seat in the House of Lords?" Tim pressed.

"Yeah I guess, but politics and I mix almost as well as me and technology" Hadrian said laughing.

Tim laughed too. "It takes a level of patience, and an ability to lie that I don't have either" he agreed.

Hadrian internally winced. Keeping the statute of secrecy necessitated him lying to people on a daily basis, but never had it been more difficult, or hurt his conscience more than lying to Tim. He was able to put it out of his mind for the moment and got up to start dinner.

Tim watching him move saw how lacking in energy his movements were and stopped him. "It's been a long couple of days and you look exhausted. I'll cook or we can call out and get something delivered" he suggested.

"I'm in the mood for Chinese" Hadrian said hopefully.

Tim agreed and got the takeout menu out of the drawer.

"You know you keep promising to cook for me. But all I've seen is your prowess with takeout menus and sandwiches" Hadrian teased as they waited for their food.

Tim laughed. "But you have to admit that I make the best peanut butter and Jelly you've ever tasted."

"Only because you've made the only peanut butter and jelly sandwiches I've ever eaten" Hadrian retorted laughing.

A/N: Thank you to Locket1, geetac, julschristine975, Maben00, Nozomi Higurashi, xDarklightx, icyquest4, DS2010, buterflypuss, Lientjuhh, Rori Potter, Theamazinggata, acherongoddess, Guest, gabrieljuarezl, avidereader101, Merlenyn, mithrilandtj, Silvermane1, Firehedgehog, gaul1, YosoNoAkuma, Momoshi-chan, heathster, Arlekin, blaketiger, Little Nix, 1bibliophile, Darkness223, Alexjd, coffeee, kjede, lulawild, Maddy1012, Moonlit Magic, hufflepuffbadgersdontcare, mrs. phelps12, Tanya Dinocrisis01, Claddagh, ButterfliesInTheSkies, Almonda, tansy6, silverharpie17, Araknofobia, miastmisty, Alna'ir, Ardsy, when spells go wrong, 4Ameline4, Selenity84 and ABreathAwayFromWhereYouAre for your support.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or NCIS or any of their characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do NOT give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

"Do you want to go out tonight?" Tim asked feeling restless.

"Sure, where would you like to go?" Hadrian asked cheerfully though he couldn't help but wish Tim was asking him on a date instead of suggesting going out as friends.

"There's a new club Ziva was telling me about" Tim suggested.

"I'm not much of a dancer and I don't drink alcohol" Hadrian said awkwardly.

"Not at all?" Tim asked surprised.

"No" Hadrian didn't offer an explanation, what could he say, 'it interferes with my control of my magic to drink too much', or even worse 'I'm not actually of age here in America'. It hadn't taken long for Hadrian to realise that Tim thought he was at least twenty-three or four. He hadn't intended to mislead him when he'd originally spoken of coming of age and with the war and everything he felt more like he was middle-aged than twenty. The truth was that the last time he'd had anything to drink was the night he was attacked with the child bearing spell. Hadrian doubted that he would ever feel safe enough to let his guard down like that in public again.

"So clubbing really isn't your thing" Tim said.

Hadrian wasn't a fan of clubbing and he would rather have a muggle root canal without the anaesthetic than spend the evening watching Tim flirt with women and try to pick one up to bring home with him. He decided that he needed to at least tell the man about his sexual orientation even though he had no hope that Tim would be interested in him that way. "No, and to be honest Tim, even if I wanted to go to a club I don't think you'd want to go to the same sort of clubs as I would" Hadrian said nervously.

Tim laughed "Abby's dragged me to every Goth and Grunge rock club in DC, Hades, I think I could handle whatever type of music you wanted to listen to."

"Yeah and I know how much you hate those nights. I don't want you to hate going out to a club with me" Hadrian was distracted into protesting.

"I've heard the radio stations you choose to listen to when you're by yourself. I admit I prefer more modern jazz but I promise that it wouldn't be a hardship to spend the night out with you if you found a club with music like that" Tim replied. "You haven't met many people since you've moved here. I think a night of light-hearted drinking and flirting would do you good."

Hadrian blushed "If you want me to flirt and try to pick up then I'd probably want to go to a gay Club" he mumbled to his feet not sure if he wanted Tim to hear him or not. He tried to hide the hurt he felt at his friend suggesting they both go out and try to hook up.

Tim looked confused, "But didn't you tell me that you were engaged to a girl."

"Yeah! But... it's complicated..." He looked up and saw that Tim was waiting for him to explain and sighed. "She was the only girl I ever thought I could love other than Hermione who is now married to our other best friend Ginny's brother, and I'm not sure now that I actually loved either of them in more than a sisterly sort of way. Hermione and Ron were sweet on each other from the age of fourteen so I never even considered her as a potential girlfriend. I was orphaned as an infant and my only living relatives turned me loose as soon as I came of age refusing to acknowledge me as family. I desperately wanted to be normal and the Weasleys were so great to me when I was younger I guess I thought that if I married Ginny I'd really belong to their family and we'd have lots of kids too and besides I think they'd been giving..." Hadrian realised he was rambling and cut himself off before he mentioned the love and lust potions he suspected Ginny and the Weasleys had been feeding him.

"So you're saying you're more gay than bisexual?" Tim asked acceptingly. "It's lucky you never actually married your fiancé then."

"Yeah! What? You're okay with me being gay?" Hadrian exclaimed surprised Tim had accepted him so readily.

Tim laughed. "Hades no totally straight guy would ever have been okay sharing a bed like we do. I don't know why I didn't realise that before tonight it would have saved us both some confusion" Tim explained surprised his friend didn't know this.

"That means you're..." Hadrian blushed and didn't continue not wanting to insult his friend if he was wrong.

"I'm bisexual, though I've never been on the receiving end of penetrative sex with a man and I have strictly only dated women since I joined NCIS" Tim replied calmly.

Hadrian was confused. "Why?"

"I'm not opposed to the idea in theory but I've never trusted anyone enough to bottom for them" Tim said blushing.

"No I mean why did you stop dating blokes when you joined NCIS?" Hadrian asked blushing as well.

"NCIS is the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, the Navy has a strict policy called 'Don't ask, Don't Tell' which means that they accept in theory that there are homosexual and bisexual service men and women but bans openly gay or lesbian behaviour" Tim explained.

"So you're allowed to be gay so long as you don't have sex? They can't expect you to be celibate?" Hadrian asked confused and horrified.

"No more like you can be gay so long as nobody in the chain of command knows about it and you dotn do anything to draw attention to it" Tim replied.

Hadrian just looked at him.

"Sounds stupid huh?" Tim smiled. "Officially NCIS is a civilian agency but because we work closely with the Navy and the Marines the policy has sort of bled over to us as well. And law enforcement in general often responds badly to homosexual officers."

Hadrian nodded "Yeah but if you're allowed to be gay then why..." he trailed off in embarrassment.

"It's just easier. Officially they're not allowed to discriminate so long as I stay in the cupboard but with teammates like Tony and Ziva if I dated a man they'd find out and Abby would find out and..."

"You still love her?" Hadrian interrupted hurting.

Tim thought a moment wanting to give a totally honest answer. "No I don't love her anymore, I'm not sure I ever really did, but when Abby knows a secret then the whole building will know within hours. I don't want to lose my job. There must be a reason there are no openly gay men or women at NCIS headquarters."

"Do your teammates know about me?" Hadrian asked. "I mean that you met me or that we're friends, and that you don't spend all your time at home on your own. That I'm practically living here."

Tim shrugged "Probably not. I haven't told them anything and I don't think they've broken in and searched the place while you've been living here. The building is too large for them to sit outside and keep track of arrivals and departures."

Hadrian looked shocked that Tim could accept that level of nosiness and lack of respect for his privacy so casually.

"They've always done it. There is nothing I can do about it, so I may as well accept it. Up until now there's been nothing here that I want to keep from them. The main reason I haven't told them about you is because I didn't want them invading your privacy like that, or digging into your past. Particularly since you left Britain for your own protection I didn't want them accidently asking the wrong people about you and letting them know where you are."

Hadrian grinned at the thought that it was probably the mild ill intent wards he'd cast around the outside of the apartment building that was discouraging Tony and Ziva from snooping. The wards were highly illegal for Hadrian to cast on a building he didn't own but he figured the owner wasn't likely to complain about the decrease in crime and vandalism in his building even if they were discovered.

"So if we went to a gay bar together would I be your wingman or your date?" Tim asked returning to the original subject of their conversation and trying to sound casual even though his heart was beating faster than it ever had before without being shot at.  
Hades looked confused. "What's a wingman?" He asked.  
"A wingman is someone you hang out with in the hope it will help you both pick up someone, mostly used to pick up girls because pretty girls almost never go out on their own" Tim explained hiding his hurt that Hades hadn't immediately said he wanted to go on a date with him.  
"You want to help me pick up someone else?" Hades asked trying to hide how much the idea hurt like a knife in his heart.  
"If that's what you want" Tim said his heart also aching at the idea.  
"What if I just want to hang out together? Would that be okay?" Hadrian asked nervously, not finding the courage to ask for the date he wanted.  
"That would be fine" Tim said smiling. "You'd have to buy a couch and stuff for your apartment before you can bring someone home anyway."  
Hadrian laughed slightly uneasily. He had furniture still shrunk in his luggage because he didn't spend enough time in his own apartment to be bothered to set it all up, he just couldn't explain that to Tim. Not that he had any interest in sleeping up there most of the time unless Tim was unhappy about him being in his flat all the time.  
"I'd need to sleep upstairs if you wanted to bring someone home too. Having me here is cramping your style. I'm sorry! I didn't realise. I've tried not to. You should have just told me" Hadrian said trying to sound contrite.  
"You aren't" Tim reassured him. "I'm not really into one night stands and the hours I work make relationships difficult. I'm glad you're here and I don't have to come home to an empty apartment every night."  
"Yeah but don't you want more than a casual friend sharing your bed?" Hadrian asked uncertainly.  
"You mean marriage and a family. Somehow I don't think that's in my future" Tim replied sadly. "I don't have the best luck with women."  
"It doesn't have to be a woman" Hadrian said.  
"Hadrian, I virtually work for the navy. I can't be openly in a relationship with a man" Tim explained regretfully. "Not to mention my father would probably disown me completely. Not that I'd care about that too much, but he'd try to stop Mom and Sarah from having anything to do with me. And My Mom will do what she tells him."

Seeing the heartbreak that crossed Tim's face at that idea Hadrian hugged him tightly.

"What if you met someone that was prepared to keep it a secret, to pretend you were only friends?" he asked wondering if Tim would ever consider a relationship with him.

"Secrets like that eat at your soul Hades" Tim said heavily. "I've been in a relationship like that in high school and watching him pretend to flirt with girls really hurt. I began to feel that he was ashamed of me and if he was ashamed it had to be because something was wrong with me and the way we felt." Feeling like that about you would break me.

Hadrian hugged Tim tightly. "There's nothing wrong with you" he said firmly. "What if it doesn't have to be totally secret. I mean that there are people out there that understand this navy Don't Ask Don't Tell thing and would agree to keep a relationship private and away from your work but still admit that you are together to your friends away from work."

"I can't see anyone accepting that long term though Hades" Tim said negatively. "It would take someone with a lot of confidence in themselves and our relationship to not be hurt or become insecure in a relationship like that. I know I would be if the situation was reversed."

Hadrian nodded. Added to the secrets he'd have to keep having a relationship with a muggle it could easily turn into a disaster. He'd have to consider that before he decided whether he could pursue a relationship with Tim.

"Let's just watch a movie or something tonight. We could go out on Saturday if neither of us catch a case" Hadrian suggested.

Tim smiled and nodded, "I'm actually in the mood to write" he said.

Hadrian smiled. "You write then, I have a book I want to read. One of the guys at work loaned it to me."

-o0o-

Hadrian found himself using his time-turner just to spend a lot of time alone in his own apartment thinking things through over the next few days. He finally got around to unshrinking the rest of his furniture and unpacking his things, using the mindless tasks to help him stay grounded as he thought about the realities of a relationship with Tim.

On one hand he'd never met anyone he liked better than the NCIS agent, not only was he incredibly attracted to the man but Tim had become his best friend, easily usurping Ron and Hermione's place in his life. He could no longer imagine a life worth living that didn't have Tim in it even if it was only as a best friend.

On the other hand, there was the statute of secrecy, he was already having to lie or fudge the truth a little nearly every day and he hated himself for it. If they actually got together that would only get worse. And if they ever reached the stage of making a permanent commitment and being able to tell Tim about magic, Tim was too good an investigator not to realise that meant that Hadrian had been lying to him to keep magic a secret from him. Could Tim ever forgive him for that? And even if he did, would he still trust Hadrian enough for them to build a successful lifelong relationship?

Hadrian found it slightly ironic that he had the extremely homophobic Dursleys to thank for being able to be in his current situation with Tim. If he hasn't been raised in the muggle world he never would have been able to consider living with a muggle. He either would have broken the statute of secrecy I. The first day or two or had Tim convinced he'd escaped from a lunatic asylum. He also found it odd that Hermione who had parents that loved her, had attended summer school to keep up with her muggle subjects and actually had enough A levels to go to university and had a couple of friends in the muggle world found it so impossible to move back into it when he who had no reason not to hate everything about his muggle upbringing found it so much easier than living in the wizarding world had been. Though he did now understand her reluctance to date a muggle.

Then there was the secrecy Tim was talking about. Hadrian was sure at the moment that he didn't care if Tim never told his work colleagues about their relationship. Except there was this little voice in the back of his mind that said that he would care, no matter how well he understood the reasons behind it. He was already slightly hurt by the knowledge that Tim had never talked about him of their friendship with anyone at work. If they were together would that start to fester? Would he start doubting Tim's feelings for him because of Tim's inability to tell the other important people in his life? And how would holidays and celebrations work if the team expected Tim to celebrate with them. Would he leave Hadrian alone while he went out with the team in order to keep their relationship secret? Would they celebrate Christmas together early every year and go their own ways on the actual holiday.

While Hadrian struggled to come up with a solution he could live with, Tim was filled with the same doubts. How could he commit to Hadrian without telling his family or his colleagues? How would Hadrian see how important he was to Tim if he could only share such a small part of Tim's life? Tim already wanted to know more about the people Hades worked with but Hades had been extremely reticent about them saying he was still moving about working with different groups, TADing looking for a place he'd fit best within the FBI as well as completing assignments for MI-7 when they came up.

He'd been interested to meet the team Hades had been working with during the one case they'd shared, and disappointed to realise they weren't his usual team. How much worse would it be for Hades who had met his team in passing but wasn't able to really talk to them. He'd felt guilty when he found out Hades had admitted to his team that he knew Tim when Tim hadn't said anything to his own team. Hades hadn't seemed to mind; he'd even used a false name to hide the fact he was Tim's friend after pissing Gibbs off. But would he care next time, if they were together and he denied knowing him or pretended they were merely friends? Would he be hurt by Tim's reluctance to break the rules and acknowledge their relationship? And what would happen next time Abby demanded he go out with her. Hades was already furious about her dragging him to horrific concerts and parties where nobody talked to him. How much worse would it be if jealousy was added to the mix. He remembered how it felt in High School watching his boyfriend take a girl to school dances to maintain his reputation. He couldn't survive if Hades did that to him and he couldn't even stomach the idea of doing that to Hades.

-o0o-

On Saturday Tim took him to a bar he used to go to. "It's been a while since I've been here so I hope it hasn't changed too much" he said.

Hadrian looked around curiously. It was a lot like the local pubs he and Ron had liked back home, though the appearance of age was most likely faked here. There were no flashing lights or barely dressed young girls or men. There were darts in the corner and a small dance area in another. The music was mostly 90's popular tunes, loud enough to dance to but not too loud as to impede conversation. It was the sort of place people could be themselves and Hadrian and Tim in their jeans and button down shirts fit right in though Hadrian was obviously the youngest person present.

Tim laughed when Hades was carded trying to buy Tim a glass of wine. Luckily his ID was magical and the bartender saw what Hadrian wanted him to see. Hadrian stuck to ginger ale.

"Can I ask why you don't drink?" Tim asked hesitantly.

"I was attacked one night leaving the bar and was injured quite badly because my reflexes were a little slower than they normally are" Hadrian replied. "Being out with you makes me feel safe but I'd rather not be in public unless I'm 100% sober. Not that I miss it actually, I was never much of a drinker."

"Would you like to play pool?" Tim asked. "I'm not very good, but it can be fun."

"I'm not very good either" Hadrian said agreeing cheerfully. They headed over and proceeded to have fun playing, though both had clearly been honest about not being any good.

"Do you play darts?" Hadrian asked.

"Ziva's been teaching me to throw knives. She's getting frustrated with me being so slow learning and I think that trying to play darts might make that worse" Tim replied.

"I could teach you" Hadrian said quietly, "or at least help you practice."

"Don't tell me that's what you've been doing up in your apartment. You'll never get your bond back throwing knives at the walls" Tim exclaimed.

Hadrian laughed. "I set up a target. Besides it's not like the walls are worth protecting. I can fix another couple of dozen holes without much more effort than the holes already there."

"So no darts then, would you like to dance?" Tim offered.

Hadrian looked over at the dance floor and saw no groups of friends but several couples slow dancing. "You want to dance with me like that?" He asked blushing. "I don't think our feet would survive it."

Tim looked over. "Oh!" He said blushing. "Maybe we should wait for something less romantic." He liked the idea of holding Hades like that but didn't want to risk his friend freaking out on public of he didn't feel the same.

Hadrian laughed.

They headed back to the bar and got another drink but Tim really didn't feel comfortable drinking in front of Hadrian when he didn't drink so headed home to watch a movie.

A/N: Thank you to charm13insomnia, icyquest4, julschristine975, Locket1, Firehedgehog, Maben00, xDarklightx, DS2010, Demonica-Death, buterflypuss, Lientjuhh, gaul1, Almonda, Silvermane1 **,** acherongoddess, Rori Potter, lillisa34, eyann85, gabrieljuarezl, Ashawyn Frost, NarutoSlayer, ThatHungryDude, LadyKakashi89, wolfypunkprincess, catlyncarson, ekabw97, Naussicaa44, Makayla.D12, , Ky Tran, Anzobre, tigereyes24, Lumpster, Wolfinn, Gracie15Trowa, ArtemisaLilianVestaNightshade, UnRealityCheck, AmIToBe, MyGoshYou'reRude, Q-vadis, ffchen sarah, freethewolves1, RavenGredForgeMcgonagall, Steph5anne, Lemonkittylove, JDGambit, Yasmine Lupin, Lalana-chan, Calmest Card, Dearly Disturbed, Sue01, Sage L. Soul, RokudaimeNaruto, Tidal passion, Ceti H. Black, A Marked Propensity, alexa-abrille, Eltanin Black, SweetMagicMoon, Tenshi01 and hooked on tv for your support.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or NCIS or any of their characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do NOT give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

Hadrian leaned over and lightly kissed Tim on the mouth. He pulled back and watched Tim's expression anxiously.

Tim looked at him for a moment then smiled and leaned in to kiss him back. It was still a chaste kiss but Tim lingered longer. He licked across Hadrian's lips and Hadrian opened his mouth deepening the kiss. They kissed passionately until breathing became imperative then drew back panting.

"Is this okay?" Hadrian asked.

Tim smiled and wrapped his arms around his friend. "Very okay" he said leaning in to kiss him again.

Hadrian smiled and continued to kiss him passionately. Neither man tried to progress things beyond kissing, Tim because he didn't want to pressure Hadrian into anything he wasn't ready for and Hadrian was just enjoying the kissing and hoping they had a lifetime to explore so he was in no hurry.

"Wow" Hadrian whispered as they broke apart to catch their breaths.

"Yeah Wow" Tim agreed grinning happily.

"So is this just a bit of fun or does this mean we're together?" Hadrian asked hopefully.

"It's more than just fun for me Hades" Tim said seriously. "I have serious feelings for you. I'd like to start a relationship with you."

"I have feelings for you too. You're more to me than just a friend" Hadrian replied, then added hesitantly. "I want to be with you. Maybe we should take the night to think about this and be sure we both want this. I don't want to risk our friendship."

"Your friendship is important to me too" Tim replied, "But Hades, I have thought about this, since the night I found out you were gay I've had trouble thinking about anything else. I know this won't be easy but I want to be with you. I think it's worth the risk, and I believe our friendship would survive so long as we're honest with each other, you're too important to me for it not to." He leaned in and kissed him again pulling him closer.

Hadrian returned the kiss and there was no more talking for quite a while.

-o0o-

Hadrian hadn't taken into full consideration when he kissed Tim the fact that they were already sitting on Tim's bed and at the end of the night he didn't quite know what to do with himself. He didn't want to go upstairs and sleep in his cold bed alone, but he also didn't want to move too fast and staying the night when they'd just spent the evening snogging was very different from falling asleep together while watching TV or sleeping over as a friend when one of them expected nightmares.

"I should go" he said reluctantly.

Tim seemed equally reluctant. "You could stay. I'll try to keep my hands to myself" he suggested.

"It's not that! I trust you!" Hadrian said, blushing furiously. "It's just I'm not ready for more than snogging."

"Snogging?" Tim asked amused.

"We'll what would you call it?" Hadrian asked embarrassed.

"I would call it kissing. I think snogging is a purely British word" Tim replied chuckling. "But you're right. I'm okay with taking things slowly. I'm asking you to stay as a friend the same as you usually do. I wouldn't have kissed you here in the bedroom if I'd known it would make you uncomfortable to be here with me. Your clean pyjamas are in the bottom drawer like always if you want them."

Hadrian pulled on the pyjamas and settled down to sleep faced away from Tim who rolled over and tentatively put an arm around his waist.

"Is this okay?" Tim asked.

"Yeah, we normally wake up like this anyway. I like it" Hadrian replied.

"Me too" Tim replied. "Goodnight Hades"

"Goodnight Tim" Hadrian replied.

They both lay there each too keyed up to sleep but trying not to disturb the other. Finally, Tim realised Hadrian was still awake. "You okay?" he asked softly.

"Yeah" Hadrian replied. "Though I think I could use a cold shower."

"Yeah" Tim agreed.

"Maybe I should have gone upstairs to sleep" Hadrian said.

"I'm glad you didn't" Tim replied. "Feel free to shower if you want to. There's a radio on the bottom drawer of the vanity if you feel more comfortable knowing I can't hear you."

"How long have you felt this way about me?" Hadrian asked.

"The attraction was there as I got to know you on the plane. But please don't think that's the only reason I invited you to stay. I genuinely liked you as a friend and I thought you were straight. If friendship was all you could offer I would have been happy with that" Tim replied. "You're the best friend I've ever had."

"I've liked you that long too" Hadrian replied. "I was afraid to lose your friendship."

"Are you still worried about that?" Tim asked.

"A little, we really have something special but now that our feelings are out in the open we're just as likely to lose what we have if we don't try as if we do. I want to be your friend forever. To spend our lives being close" Hadrian said.

"It is possible to remain friends after the end of a relationship, my bosses best friend married his ex-wife and they're still friends" Tim said trying to lighten the mood. "And while Abby didn't turn out to be much of a friend to me our friendship didn't end just because we stopped dating."

"Yeah you were her friend, but you were still in love with her for a long time too and she hurt you. I don't want to hurt you like that" Hadrian replied.

"I don't think you could ever be as selfish as Abby turned out to be. I want to know you'll always be in my life. And I think our chances of remaining friends for life are pretty good. Neither of us are petty or jealous people. Even if we try a relationship and it doesn't work out I think we could still be friends" Tim said earnestly. "But we shouldn't be talking about what will happen if our relationship doesn't work. It feels like we're planning for it to fail."

"No I'm planning on trying as hard as I can to make this work" Hadrian said fervently.

"Me too Hades" Tim said squeezing his new boyfriend a little. "Try to get some sleep though."

The seriousness of their conversation had taken the edge off their arousal and this time they both drifted off to sleep happily dreaming of their future together.

-o0o-

"Have you ever had sex with a man? Or maybe I should say boy?" Tim asked. He'd decided that they needed to talk about this a little before it came up in the heat of the moment.

"I've never had sex with anybody. Ginny is the only person I've dated more than once and she wanted to wait for our wedding night" Hadrian said honestly. "I'd never even kissed a man before you."

"Is she or her family super religious?" Tim asked surprised.

"They're not religious at all, just extremely conservative" Hadrian replied. "I was barely allowed to spend more than an hour with her unchaperoned except in public. She acted like it was a huge favour to be allowed to touch her breasts through her clothing once we got engaged."

Tim laughed. "I guess the fact you were content with that is one of the indicators that you are more gay than bisexual" he said.

"Yeah now that I think about it" Hadrian agreed. "But the whole community and all the kids at boarding school were like that, at least they pretended to be in public and I didn't hear any different, so it was normal to me until I moved here and into the real world."

"So you were chaperoned closely enough that you never had the opportunity to have sex and she still felt she had enough control over you to make you change your mind and marry her whether you wanted to or not?"

"Yeah. Not that that stopped her brother, my best mate, from believing her and punching me in the face when she told him she was pregnant after we broke up in order to try and pressure me into marrying her" Hadrian said disgustedly.

"But if you knew you hadn't slept with her then you would have known it couldn't be true" Tim said confused. "How did she expect that to work?"

Hadrian laughed bitterly. "She thought her family would believe her over me and pressure me into marrying her. The whole community they live in is super conservative and if she really was pregnant and we didn't get married we both would've been ostracised. She doesn't understand that I was prepared to leave our community and the rest of the world isn't like that." Hadrian was having trouble describing how insular the world he had lived in in England was, without being able to mention magic it just didn't make sense. "She thought that I loved her and her family too much to embarrass her like that even if I wasn't in love with her. And my job had morality clauses in it and she thought I could lose it if she made a big enough fuss."

"So she was trying to make sure you either took her back or she ruined your life" Tim said furiously. "That little bitch should be glad I'm on the other side of the world."

"Don't be too angry with her, it was her actions that led me to accepting the overseas posting" Hadrian replied smiling at his boyfriend. "She's the reason we met."

Tim chuckled and kissed Hadrian, "I should write and thank her for sending you to me" he joked.

"No she doesn't know where I am the postcode on your letter would enable her to find where I'm working" Hadrian replied seriously.

-o0o-

Now they were together neither man tried too hard to hide the admiring glances at each other's torsos and bums as they stepped out of the shower or changed for bed.

Tim grinned when he caught Hadrian checking him out making Hadrian blush.

"Hey it's okay to look. Thanks to your healthy cooking I haven't ever looked this fit before" Tim said blushing too.

"You looked good before, you weren't fat" Hadrian argued.

"I was nearly twice your size" Tim retorted slipping on a t-shirt.

"My cousin was about seven times my size and I'm not exactly a healthy weight anyhow, side effect of ten years and six summers of near starvation" Hadrian said casually.

"Seven times your size? I'm going to ask you about the starvation later" Tim warned him climbing into bed and taking Hadrian into his arms.

"They're kind of related. My aunt related feeding people with affection. She disliked me so I only got table scraps and food Dudley didn't like, like vegetables, but she adored my cousin so she almost force fed him everything he wanted and you can't expect a child to make healthy choices when offered unlimited junk food. I think for all they loved him and despised me I got the better deal. They screwed him up more than me in the end" Hadrian explained.

"You look healthy enough now. You obviously find time to work out without me" Tim replied smiling at his boyfriend and running a hand over his t-shirt covered abs.

"Yeah it's a struggle to maintain my weight when I get stressed though. To me eating is a conscious decision something I frequently forget to do when I'm busy and my stomach won't let me eat properly when I'm worked up about something " Hadrian replied. Most of his upper body muscle bulk came from the crazy way he flew a broom instead of the hours in the gym Tim was envisioning.

"Were all your scars from your aunt and uncle too?" Tim asked seeing hades was in the mood to talk about his childhood.

"A few, most of them are battle scars from school and the war" Hadrian replied.

"From school?" Tim asked horrified.

"My left shoulder was from a competition in fourth year as was the right biceps. The left elbow was from an incident in second year" Hadrian replied. They weren't bullying incidents, though there was some schoolyard rivalry which got a bit out of hand.

"So you weren't bullied?" Tim asked.

"I was in primary school, mostly instigated by my cousin but luckily we went to different secondary schools" Hadrian replied. "Thankfully the bullying never escalated to the point of leaving scars. What about you?"

"Every time we moved they put me up a year so by high school I was at least three years younger than the rest of senior year. It got pretty rough" Tim said. "Joining the wrestling team helped but kids don't like to be outdone by someone younger."

"Was college better" Hadrian asked hiding a mental wince. Tim had would think he was a real idiot to still be in high school at an age Tim had already finished his first college degree.

"A bit" Tim said. "I wasn't bullied but students did resent me for being top of the class and very few of them wanted to hang around with a kid so much younger."

It took a few nights for the couple to relax again about getting into bed together to sleep, but they soon got over it and as time passed their kisses got more heated and their hands started to explore each other's bodies. Hadrian was a little self-conscious about all his scars but Tim had kissed every one of them as it was revealed to him and promised that they didn't make Hades any less attractive in his eyes.

-o0o-

Tim sat stiffly waiting for dinner moving his head as little as possible.

"Are you hurt?" Hadrian asked noticing as he finished dishing up.

"Just stiff and sore. We had hand to hand training today and Ziva was a little rough on me" Tim admitted.

"Finish your dinner and I'll give you a massage" Hadrian offered.

"Thanks" Tim said smiling, he was feeling so much muscle pain that the thought of Hadrian massaging him wasn't arousing as it normally would be. He just wanted the stiffness to reduce enough that he'd be able to sleep without strong painkillers.

Hadrian helped Tim off with his shirt, surprised he wasn't wearing an undershirt. "I knew it would hurt too much to get off again to shower" Tim explained.

"Do you want to shower first? The hot water might help" Hadrian asked nervously as Tim started to unbuckle his belt.

"Yeah" Tim agreed. "Can you help me with my shirt.

Hadrian had helped injured friends and colleagues undress before but this was slightly different. He helped him off with his shirt then knelt to untie his shoes before sitting back to wait in case Tim needed help getting his feet out of his trousers.

Tim felt incredibly self-conscious taking off his pants with Hadrian watching him so closely. He blushed as he pushed his boxers down revealing his semi erection.

"Obviously you're not feeling too bad" Hadrian teased.

"With you on your knees in front of me like that I'd have to be dead not to react at all" Tim mumbled embarrassed.

Hadrian hurriedly got to his feet. "I'm sorry I didn't think" he said flushing.

Tim smiled and leaned over to kiss his cheek. "You were only trying to help I know" he admitted. "You're not responsible for where my perverted imagination went."

Hadrian grinned. "My imagination went there too" he admitted. "But your too sore to do anything more than imagine. Go shower and I'll massage your back so you can sleep."

While Tim was in the shower Hadrian carefully mixed a little muscle relaxation and healing potion into some cooking oil, after checking his potions and basic field healing textbooks to see it was safe to do so. Using the potion at full strength would work too well and cause suspicion that Hadrian was able to totally heal the muscle soreness within seconds of starting the massage, hopefully the small amount mixed in the oil would ease the soreness slowly.

Tim came out wrapped in a towel.

"Lie on your stomach" Hadrian said.

"Do you want me to put pants on?" Tim asked blushing.

"Only if you want to" Hadrian replied.

Hadrian had stripped the quilts of the bed so Tim lay down on the sheet and loosened the towel so it lay across his bum.

Hadrian smiled at the level of trust Tim had in him and sat on the edge of the bed starting to massage his sore shoulder. He soon got the worst of the stiffness worked out and moved to massage Tim's neck and the rest of his back enjoying the feel of Tim's smooth skin under his hands. He was glad Tim couldn't see him because his erection was making quite a large tent in his sleep pants. He finished the massage folding the towel back until he could just see the top of Tim's crack and dimples just above it. He was tempted to go further since Tim was showing no sign of stopping him but when he realised Tim had fallen asleep. He called Tim's name softly but the older man didn't rouse. Hadrian used a clean towel to wipe off the excess oil and covered him with the quilt so he wouldn't get cold and went to take care of his erection in the shower.

He realised now that he should have encouraged Tim to put his pants on before the massage, now he was sound asleep and it would be a shame to wake him but he wasn't sure if Tim would be okay with sharing the bed while he was naked. Hadrian knew he should go upstairs to sleep in his own bed or at the very least set up the blow up mattress in the other room but the thought of snuggling up next to Tim was incredibly enticing.

-o0o-

Tim woke reeling refreshed and comfortable, he was a bit disconcerted to feel Hadrian's hand wrapped around his penis and his pyjama clad erection nestled up against his naked arse but remembered making the decision not to put pants on before lying down for Hades to massage his shoulder. He was fairly sure Hadrian wouldn't have touched him like this deliberately without him being awake to consent and he'd woken up himself once or twice with his hands in places they didn't have permission to be so he wasn't upset by the position they found themselves in just a little embarrassed.

He brought his hand down to try to get Hades to let him go without waking him. Unfortunately, touching Hadrian's hand caused him to tighten it and flex his elbow slightly eliciting a loud moan from Tim. Tim froze as Hadrian started to wake.

Hadrian was still more asleep than awake as he stretched pressing his erection between Tim's cheeks as his hand inadvertently stroked Tim again.

Tim couldn't help himself he thrust up into Hades hand and came crying out Hades name.

Hadrian awoke with a start.

"Oh Merlin's I'm sorry" Hadrian said as soon as he realised what he was doing.

"It's okay" Tim replied still trying to recover.

"I knew I shouldn't have stayed" Hadrian said apologetically.

"What do you mean you shouldn't have stayed? I always want you to stay" Tim replied.

"You fell asleep during the massage and I didn't have the heart to wake you but I wasn't sure if you'd be okay with me sharing the bed while you were naked. It never even occurred to me that I'd end up groping you in your sleep" Hadrian explained anxiously.

"Hades it's okay. I was awake for most of it. I could have stopped you before things reached their conclusion if I wasn't enjoying it too much" Tim said blushing. "I need a shower."

He got up and turned back to the bed to see Hadrian turning his face away blushing and scowling at the bed.

"It's okay Hades. Don't beat yourself up about it. Things like this happen" he tried to reassure his boyfriend.

"I practically molested you" Hadrian said miserably, how can you still trust me?"

"You were asleep and I was awake. If anyone molested anyone it was me" Tim said coming and sitting back on the side of the bed.

Hadrian looked at him then quickly averted his eyes.

"You can look. We've both snuck enough peeks at each other that there's no point hiding. I've got nothing to be ashamed of" Tim said halfway between amused and embarrassed.

"You're sitting there covered in semen" Hadrian said astonished.

"Which is proof that I enjoyed your touch, again nothing to be ashamed of" Tim reminded him. "It was bound to happen to one of us sooner or later and it could have been worse"

"How?" Hadrian asked incredulously.

It could have happened before we got together. What if it had been that first week when I was too tired to notice you were there and fell into bed in just my boxers" Tim said.

Hadrian shuddered. "I would have probably moved to a hotel if that happened and we wouldn't even be friends" he whispered.

"Yeah but we are friends and more. I trust you Hades. Are we okay?"

"I guess so if you're really honestly not disgusted with me" Hadrian replied.

"I'm not, but we are going to be late for work" Tim said hurrying to the shower.

"It's Saturday. Do you have a case?" Hadrian asked.

Tim ducked his head out of the bathroom ruefully. "No. I just lost track of days. Do you want to go out for breakfast seeing as we're already up?"

"Okay. I'll just go and shower upstairs" Hadrian replied gathering up his clothes.

"No need. I'll be out in a minute" Tim called.

-o0o-

Breakfast out was nice, though Tim knew Hades could have cooked better food. It was good to get out of the apartment and be together in public sometimes to remind them both that their relationship wasn't totally secret. The only member of the team that lived anywhere near Tim was Ziva but he'd never seen her out in the neighbourhood they frequented so he felt comfortable walk

ing through the park holding Hades' hand on the way home. Hadrian had calmed down about what happened earlier.

"If it makes you feel better I can return the favour" Tim offered when he tried to bring it up again.

Hadrian blushed, "Um… Yeah okay… if you want…" he stammered.

Tim looked at him searchingly. "Yes of course U want to" he said disbelievingly. "I've been waiting until you felt ready. And obviously your subconscious wants to but do you feel ready to try it while you're awake?"

That's where we're going isn't it?" Hadrian asked.

"Yeah I thought so" Tim replied. "Isn't that what you want."

"It is" Hadrian said.

"We have the whole weekend. Is there anything you want or need to do?" Tim asked.

"No let's go home."

A/N: Thank you to julschristine975, eyann85, Maben00, xDarklightx, Firehedgehog, Gracie15Trowa, Rori Potter, buterflypuss, acherongoddess, Silvermane1, Village-Mystic, DS2010, Locket1, Afrodity, Merlenyn, This guy doesnt have a clue, Rika92, Skullera, Fa07, Mep101, KinZoku591, yuki2497, LokiSpokFan, ravenhart139, princessofspark, ice-phoenix1066, Lego Land, Mika821, BatfamilyFan01, JeannieCantrell97, Anrieth, sophie333, poseidon94, whatithink0, WingedIsis16, satine01, Baboy Ako, kbbella, neechan08, krytoned, Kotonushi kyubi no kitsune and A Random Bowser for your support.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or NCIS or any of their characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do NOT give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

They hurried back to the apartment and then seemed to lose their courage. They stood in the bedroom self-consciously for a few moments that seemed to last a lot longer each waiting for the other to make the first move before Tim stepped up to Hadrian and kissed him passionately, wrapping his arms around him.

The kiss seemed to calm Hadrian's nerves as well as igniting his desire and he kissed back enthusiastically moving them both towards the bed.

Tim reached for the buttons on Hadrian's shirt and began to undo them, he stripped the shirt off Hades' shoulders only to have the sleeves catch at the cuffs.

Hadrian laughed slightly nervously and undid them slowly while Tim stepped back and kicking off his shoes, stripped off his own shirt and pants leaving him standing there in just his boxers. Hadrian copied him and they climbed into bed, Hadrian playing with the covers for a moment before leaving them down around his waist.

"Are you warm enough? I could turn up the heat" Tim offered.

"I'm fine" Hadrian replied leaning in to kiss Tim again. He pulled Tim close and Tim rolled them over so that Hadrian was lying on top of him. He could feel the younger man's arousal pressing into his thigh and moved slightly spreading his legs until their erections lined up together and began to slowly rock his hips. Hadrian moaned and tried to match Tim's movements. "Feels so good" he gasped.

"Feels amazing" Tim agreed, "Do you want to come like this or do you want me to use my hand?"

"Whatever just… I need…" Hadrian moaned. "I'm close…. Don't stop…"

Tim grasped Hadrian's hips and thrust faster and harder sending Hadrian over the edge.

"Tim" Hadrian cried as he came, Tim kissed him fiercely and came too.

"We're going to need more showers" Tim said as he caught his breath after collapsing beside Hadrian.

"I can't be bothered moving" Hadrian replied.

Tim climbed off the bed and disappeared into the bathroom. He stripped off and cleaned himself up returning to the bedroom with a hot flannel.

Hadrian watched Tim walk back into the room and blushed when Tim caught him checking him out.

Tim smiled and reached for Hadrian's boxers raising one eyebrow and waiting for permission before pulling them off.

Hadrian blushed furiously as Tim used the flannel to clean the semen off his crotch. Tim finished without speaking and returned the flannel to the bathroom before joining Hades in bed, pulling the quilt over them both and curling up into Hadrian's side. Hadrian turned to take Tim into his arms and they both dozed off.

This time when Hadrian woke up with his hand cupping Tim's arousal he smiled and kissed Tim awake before starting to gently explore.

Tim pushed the quilt off onto the floor and spread his legs propping himself up on his elbows to watch what Hadrian was doing. Hadrian touched Tim the way he liked to be touched, carefully cataloguing his reactions to learn what Tim liked best.

"Stop teasing" Tim begged.

Hadrian grinned and leaned in to kiss Tim as he started to seriously try to get Tim off. It didn't take long and Tim's cry was muffled by Hadrian's kiss. Hadrian fetched the flannel and rinsed it in hot water before coming back to the bedroom to clean up Tim, finding it much less embarrassing to be the one taking care of his lover. He joined Tim on the bed again snuggling in and talking for a while before Tim wrapped his hand around Hadrian's growing erection and gently pumped him to completion.

"That feels so different from doing it myself" Hadrian whispered.

"Yeah" Tim agreed. "Do you want me to get the cloth to clean up?"

"I think I really do need a shower this time" Hadrian said, getting up reluctantly.

"Want some company or do you need some time alone?" Tim asked watching his lover's reaction carefully.

Hadrian smiled "I'll wash your back" he offered, blushing slightly but clearly keen to have Tim join him.

-o0o-

Over the next few weeks it seemed to the two of them that the universe, or at least their agencies, were conspiring to keep them apart. Tim got called in to work a case down in Norfolk and was gone a couple of days, when he returned after three back to back cases Hadrian was sent to South America after a tip there were British Nationals causing problems in the magical community down there. The tip didn't pan out, the trouble makers were young Muggleborn and half-blood wizards that had fled Britain early in the war. They could prove they had been in the area since 1996 and that they had nothing to do with any pureblood sympathisers and none of them were wanted for crimes in Britain. Hadrian helped with the raid then left the locals to deal with the culprits. He arrived home exhausted to an empty apartment and crashed. He was sound asleep when Tim called his cell and didn't answer.

Tim got home just after nine and didn't even think to check the bedroom, he heated up the last of the frozen meals Hadrian had made them and sat at his computer trying to lose himself in his game. He was worried that he hadn't heard from Hadrian and his imagination was in overdrive. He didn't doubt Hades would have called him if he could and was imagining one horrific situation after another why he hadn't. The problem was while Tim found it amusing how ignorant Hadrian was with technology he didn't understand that there was a whole culture out there that didn't use even landline telephones and the South American wizarding community was one of them. It was nearly one in the morning before Tim reluctantly powered down his computer and headed to bed expecting another restless night filled with nightmares. He stopped in shock as he turned the light on and saw the man sprawled on the bed. Hadrian looked thinner and was badly in need of a shave and a haircut but Tim had never seen a more welcome sight in his bed. He stripped off his clothes and rolled Hades over to one side a bit so he could climb in behind him wrapping his arms around his lover, slightly disappointed that Hadrian didn't even stir.

Tim and Hadrian both woke reluctantly when Tim's alarm went off.

"Urggh" Hadrian muttered.

"Welcome back" Tim said sleepily kissing his cheek. "Do you have work today?"

"No they don't know I'm back yet. I suppose I should go in but I really need more sleep before I could safely go out in the field" Hadrian replied.

"Okay then I'll leave you to sleep" Tim said smiling.

Tim got into the shower and Hadrian got up to make them both some breakfast, making Tim's into a wrap he could eat while driving.

"You didn't have to get up. I could have made myself breakfast" Tim said kissing Hadrian as he came into the kitchen.

"I need to eat too I haven't eaten since about eleven o'clock yesterday morning this time" Hadrian said. "Besides I saw the state of the fridge and freezer, you would have grabbed takeout for breakfast."

"I meant to shop last night" Tim said guiltily. "I'm sorry I've eaten all the spare meals you put away."

Hadrian smiled. "That's what I made them for. I'll shop today, call me if you're not going to be home for dinner" Hadrian said.

"Are you going away again?" Tim asked, wondering if that's why Hades had got up to have breakfast with him in spite of still being so tired.

"Not that I know of. I haven't heard of any chat locating more of the terrorists. This latest op was a wash out. We caught the bad guys but it wasn't any of my lot so I left the locals to deal with them. It could be months before more information surfaces or it could be tomorrow" Hadrian replied. "This is only the second time I've been pulled away from local duties since I arrived."

"We wrapped up a case yesterday, so hopefully today will be about finishing the reports and catching up on the paperwork" Tim said. "I have to go. I'll ring you if we catch another case."

Hadrian kissed Tim goodbye, finished his breakfast and went back to bed. He woke early afternoon and went upstairs where he turned time back to just after Tim left for work. He went to the market and bought groceries before starting to make several casseroles to stock up the freezer again, pleased that he'd been able to look after Tim like that even while he was away. 'I'm taking after Aunt Petunia, showing caring through feeding him' he thought amused. The thought didn't stop him from making the meals but it did make him careful to make them as healthy as they could be.

-o0o-

Tim turned down drinks out with his team to come home early that night, arousing Tony's suspicions.

"Got a hot date with some honey you haven't told us about?" he asked loudly.

"No" Tim replied a little guilty at denying Hadrian like that.

"Ho ho! There's definitely someone. Come on Tim. Spill" Tony chortled.

"I'm not in the mood to go out. I'm going home to eat dinner and have an early night. I have a new book I want to read" Tim replied.

"Oh what are you reading?" Ziva asked interestedly.

"Probably 'At first sight'" Tony said, derisively.

"The new Michael Connelly 'The Lincoln Lawyer'" Tim replied to Ziva, ignoring Tony.

"I notice it was you not Tim who knew the name of the new Nicholas Sparks novel, Tony" Ziva insinuated teasingly.

"What no I don't read that. I was talking to a girl in the coffee shop who'd just bought it" Tony protested.

"And she turned you down so she could go home and read it" Ziva said laughing.

"Just come for one drink, McAntisocial, and then you can go home and play Elf Lord to your hearts content" Tony coaxed.

"No Tony I don't want to go" Tim replied firmly. "I'm going home. I haven't been sleeping well and I don't think going out drinking is a good idea if I want to be at my best for work tomorrow."

"Good thinking McGee, Tony don't forget you have work tomorrow too. Now get out of here before I find more work for you" Gibbs said.

Tony gave Tim a dirty look which Tim ignored as he collected his things and hurried to his car.

-o0o-

Hadrian was still in the kitchen when Tim arrived home.

"Have you been cooking all day?" Tim asked laughing when he saw the pile of dishes waiting to be washed. He wrapped his arms around Hadrian who leaned back into his embrace tipping his head back onto Tim's shoulder and turning his head for a kiss.

"Just the afternoon. I made a couple of casseroles for the freezer and vegetable lasagne for dinner tonight" Hadrian said.

"You should have been resting" Tim protested.

"Cooking is relaxing to me. If it makes you feel any better, I've left you the dishes" Hadrian said laughing.

Tim chuckled ruefully. "Okay" he agreed.

Hadrian slid the lasagne into the oven and set the timer. "We have just over an hour before dinner's ready" he said moving back into Tim's arms.

Tim led him into the bedroom and started kissing him while he removed his clothes. Hadrian responded enthusiastically pulling Tim's clothes off as they headed towards the bed. They fell on it still kissing and touching, Tim wrapped his hand around both their erections and Hadrian's hand joined him as they thrust against each other while they pumped their hands. Neither lasted long crying out into each other's mouths as their kiss continued. Neither let go until they were almost too sensitive to continue. Their kisses became more languid and loving than passionate each hungry to spend time together showing each other how much they loved and missed them. Their excitement was beginning to rise again when the kitchen timer went off. Hadrian was in favour of ignoring it but Tim pointed out that he'd spent too long preparing the meal to let it go to waste now and it would only take a minute to pull it out of the oven so it didn't burn and they could eat it later.

It was much later that they reheated the meal, sitting in their pyjama pants smiling at each other almost goofily and laughing together at the lamest jokes. In spite of his teasing Hadrian tried to assist with cleaning up the kitchen. Tim tried to stop him but Hadrian pointed out that he'd rather be in here with him and they'd finish faster if they worked together so Tim let him dry the dishes. They fell back into bed and snuggled together to sleep.

-o0o-

The next morning they fell back into their old routine as if nothing had changed between them. Hadrian made breakfast burritos for them to eat while Tim drove then to the Navy yard. Hadrian checked back in with Auror Clancy who welcomed him back and gave him his duty schedule for the next month. He also checked in at school with a magically produced medical certificate to explain his absence and collected the make-up work for each of his subjects then used his time turner to turn back the day and go to visit Teddy. Unusually he arrived home after Tim and the older man had started dinner. "Hey" Hadrian said coming up behind him and kissing him gently once Tim had laid down the knife.

How was your day?" Tim asked.

"Long" Hadrian replied truthfully. "Working for two different agencies sucks. I have so much work to catch up on."

"At least you know the FBI missed your contributions" Tim commiserated. "Did your team welcome you back?"

"Clancy did, I'm in New York next Wednesday and possibly Thursday to testify against those gang members who attacked that sailor and his family" Hadrian told him.

"We weren't notified" Tim said frowning a little.

"I was first into the house, caught them red-handed torturing the sailor and his wife. It's a pretty airtight case" Hadrian made excuses knowing the suspects were being tried through the wizarding courts and the mundane testimony from NCIS wouldn't be needed or possible.

"That's come to trial pretty quickly" Tim commented.

Hadrian shrugged. "I guess" he said noncommittally. The wizarding courts were quicker than the muggle courts because the use of veritaserum got at the truth and made all the minor witnesses redundant.

"This is good" Hadrian said tasting the food Tim had made.

"Don't sound so surprised" Tim replied.

"It's the most complicated meal I've seen you make" Hadrian said. In spite of Hadrian's teasing Tim did cook a couple of nights a week but it was usually simple food like steak and salads or chops and veggies.

"I had more time, and this is an old recipe of my grandmother's" Tim said.

"How is Penny?" Hadrian asked. "And the rest of the family?"

"Fine. Sarah's busy with her literature term paper, Penny's in Turkey this week. But this is a recipe from my other grandmother. She passes away a couple of years ago but she gave me a copy of the recipes of my favourite foods when I first moved into my own apartment."

Hadrian smiled. "That's nice."

"You never speak of your grandparents" Tim said hesitantly.

"I never met any of them. Mum's parent's died a couple of months before I was born and Dad's when he was nineteen" Hadrian said not at all upset by the subject. "I don't really know much about them. Though some of the things I cook are probably recipes from Mum's Mum. Petunia had a handwritten book of recipes that weren't in her handwriting."

"How did they die?" Tim asked.

"Mum's parents were killed in a car accident, hit by a drunk driver. And Dad was a very late in life baby, his parents died of natural causes. They caught a nasty illness that turned into pneumonia" Hadrian replied. "From what I could gather from the family tree the Potter's have a habit of dying young."

"A habit you'll have to break" Tim said seriously.

Hadrian shrugged. "I don't have the safest job" he replied thinking about but not mentioning how he'd already died during the battle of Hogwarts.

They snuggled up together catching up on episodes of a program they'd been watching before Hadrian had gone on assignment and Tim had recorded for him. Before long the TV was being ignored in favour of each other and they both fell asleep with satisfied smiles.

-o0o-

"How was your pastry course?" Tim asked when Tim arrived home a few weeks later. Hadrian had signed up for the Saturday class knowing Tim needed the time to finish his latest book by his publishers' deadline.

Hadrian handed over a sweet pastry for Tim to try. "Mmm" Tim moaned appreciatively. "So you learned to make great pastries but did you enjoy it?"

"Yes. It was interesting. I shared a table with Ziva David" Hadrian replied.

"Ziva?" Tim asked warily.

"Yes we mostly talked books and recipes. She was quite reticent about what she did for a living" Hadrian replied. "She was surprisingly feminine compared to your description."

"Did you tell her you knew me?" Tim asked.

"We'll no. I'd already mentioned a boyfriend who needed time alone to write before she introduced herself so I didn't think you'd want me to" Hadrian replied. "Once I knew who she was I told her my boyfriend was writing his doctoral thesis."

Tim hugged his lover, "Thanks, I'm sorry I know you hate lying" he said.

"I don't mind lying when I have to" Hadrian replied kissing Tim reassuringly.

"I'm sorry you had to today when you didn't think you would. Did you like Ziva?" Tim asked.

"I resented her being there and making me lie and I didn't expect to but yes, she had a light hand with the pastry and didn't appear to lose her temper when things didn't work out, leaving the way she goes along with how Tony treats you, I could like her. Then again, I could have liked Tony too if he didn't bully you the way he does" Hadrian replied softly. "Gibbs was harder to like but then he was already angry before I met him so I'll reserve judgement on that."

"Are you going back next week?" Tim asked.

"I think I will if I'm not working" Hadrian replied. "There's a Thai cooking class I'd like to do one day too, when you're busy."

-o0o-

It took several weeks for Tim and Hadrian to move beyond hand jobs and frottage but in the end it wasn't a well thought out and discussed decision to take things to the next level or who would take which role in their lovemaking.

One minute they were lying naked kissing and using their hands to get each other off and the next Hadrian was begging Tim to fuck him.

"Are you sure?" Tim asked wide eyed.

"I'm sure, I want to feel you inside me" Hadrian said certainly. "I'm ready."

Tim added another finger to the two he already was using to finger his lover stretching him further. He didn't want to risk hurting his smaller lover.

"Enough already" Hadrian moaned.

Tim pulled his fingers out making the smaller man whine in frustration and reached up to the drawer he'd kept the condoms. He had to fish around for a moment as they'd been pushed to the back because it had been so long since he'd needed them. He ripped it open, swearing as he noticed the use by date. "Shit"

"What's wrong?" Hadrian asked trying to sit up.

"They're expired" Tim replied blushing. He felt embarrassed that he hadn't thought to check earlier, and was glad that this was one humiliation that Tony wouldn't ever find out about.

"So, we're both clean. If it breaks it breaks. We only need it to reduce the mess anyway, grab an old towel or something" Hadrian said practically.

"Tim grinned and lubed up his cock before carefully rolling the condom into place and adding another layer of lube. He pushed Hadrian back down and hooked his arms under Hadrian's thighs raising them to his shoulders. "Is that okay?" he asked.

"Yeah" Hadrian said eagerly.

"This might hurt a bit" Tim warned as he placed his tip at Hadrian's entrance.

"I don't care. I want this" Hadrian encouraged him thrusting his hips upwards forcing the head of Tim's penis inside him. Tim was right it hurt.

"Hold still and let me take it slow" Tim ordered. "I don't want to harm you." He held Hadrian's hips down as he slid slowly inside. "Oh God you're tight" he moaned. "Are you okay?"

Hadrian was trying hard not to show pain. "I'm fine, just give me a minute" he said trying to will his body to adjust to the intrusion.

Hadrian was a master at not showing when he was hurting, wincing or reacting only encouraged his cousin to hit harder, and he used his skills to maximum value. The pain started to fade and Hadrian pulled Tim down into a kiss. Tim kissed him passionately and began to gently rock his hips.

"Oh God I'm close" Tim moaned, "I don't think I can hold off much longer." He reached between them and began working Hades' erection but quickly lost focus and rhythm as his orgasm hit bathing Hadrian's insides with hot fluid before collapsing on

"I'm sorry" Tim said a moment later as he roused himself and began moving his hand on Hadrian's still rock hard erection.

"Tss fine" Hadrian grunted before coming with a cry. "Didn't expect the first time to be great" he admitted panting.

-o0o-

Hadrian returned from his visit to his godson and collapsed on the rarely used bed in his apartment. Taking the second international portkeys in the same day always left him feeling dizzy and sick, and the stress of being in England where he could be discovered by anyone who happened to visit Andi wore him down. On top of this he was beginning to worry more and more about Andi's health and Teddy's wellbeing. He knew that Andi was doing her best to bring up her grandson and was doing a phenomenal job as far as Teddy's manners, physical health and education were concerned. But Teddy had become increasingly quiet over the last few months and his increasing excitement to going out in the muggle world with him, even if it meant swallowing the disgusting tasting potion to force his appearance to remain in one form, led Hadrian to believe he was rarely leaving the house other than when he visited.

Andi wasn't well and though she hadn't admitted it Hadrian, she was starting to believe that she wouldn't be able to care for Teddy much longer. He offered to help her move to America where there were many new and innovative developments in so many areas that he thought it possible their healers may also be able to help Andi. And even if they couldn't, living in America Hadrian would be able to spend a couple of hours every day with Teddy.

Andi didn't want to leave her home though and Hadrian worried as her health seemed to continue to decline. He tried to spend more time with them, visiting every four or five days instead of weekly and made Andi promise that she would call him if she needed help and promised to come no matter what time of day or night.

Tim listened contentedly as Hades described his day out with his godson. The detective in him noticed that Hades was sometimes choosing his words carefully (avoiding mentioning magic and the fact they'd gone to the London Zoo not the one here in Washington). He wondered why and hoped it wasn't that Hades was attracted to the child's godmother or someone else he regularly saw when visiting. He also wondered why Hades had never brought the boy to the house or invited him to go on one of these outings but rationalised that the grandmother might not approve of their relationship. Heaven knows he had no plans to introduce Hades to his own family. Hadrian would have liked to introduce Teddy to Tim but couldn't work out a way without telling him about magic that he could. Even if he got Andi to bring Teddy to him for the day instead of going there, the little boy was too little to understand the need for secrecy and too entrenched in the magical world not to bring up something about it during the day.

A/N: Thank you to Kourtney Uzu Yato, Almonda, julschristine975, xDarklightx, geetac, Firehedgehog, Lotty7, Gracie15Trowa, icyquest4, Guest, Afrodity, Rori Potter, Village-Mystic, Locket1, acherongoddess, buterflypuss, Silvermane1, DS2010, Merlenyn, lgbtlovechick, Lientjuhh, Seanq, TerraeStarDragon88, harrypotter4ever1017, nonangel, lolajohnson94, efry, ankruler101, DanniiGirl, bholi, BRSora, 8426, .3781, Oogies4u, LazyBrat, picabone99, Um. . .someone, Saphieralynn, Broena, madhu1981, Dragonpink, Marie90, ddrgirl18, lillium23, EEJ168, Pyrelindra, kurosakiami01, HKirin, lamellae and Aeryun for your support.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or NCIS or any of their characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do NOT give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

"You said you weren't working full time though you do go into the office every morning? What do you do all day anyway?" Tim asked curiously one day.

To his surprise the younger man blushed slightly and ignored the question.

"Hades," Tim said seriously, "I don't mean to pry and it really is none of my business but can you at least assure me whatever you're up to is legal"

"Yes Mr Federal Agent. I swear I've not broken a single law since I arrived in the country" Hadrian flirted.

Tim smiled "Then I'll let you have your secrets" he said moving behind Hadrian and wrapping his arms around him.

Hadrian sighed "I don't want to keep secrets from you. I'm just a bit embarrassed and I didn't want you to think I'm stupid" he said turning and burying his face into Tim's shoulder.

"Hades I'll never think you're stupid. You have some really great insight into things and a lot of innate intelligence. I know you don't have as much education as I do but intelligence isn't measured by college degrees. If you want one then enrol in college and choose something you're interested in but don't think you need to do it for my sake" Tim said reassuringly.

Hadrian looked at Tim for a moment assessingly. "I enrolled in High School" he said quietly.

Tim almost laughed until he saw how nervous his boyfriend looked and realised he was seriously worried about his reaction.

"I really can't imagine you spending all day with 17 and 18 year olds but if that is what you want to do then I'll support you. You do know they have High School classes for adults at the community college?"

"Yeah I looked into that but they're mostly a night and I wanted something to do during the day so I can be home here with you at night" Hadrian said not correcting Tim's assumption that he was a senior.

"Well if you need help with Math or anything then I'm happy to help you" Tim replied hugging his boyfriend. "I think it's great Hades not many people would have the courage to go back to school."

"It's not math so much as American History I'm struggling with. I just don't have the background knowledge the course takes for granted" Hadrian replied.

"Well I'm happy to help there too if I can. I spent a couple of years attending the American School in Japan where they taught mostly Japanese History so I understand your problem" Tim offered.

"Thanks" Hadrian replied.

"Hades, if you're at school all day how are you paying the rent?" Tim asked. "You know I'd be happy to let you live here for free if it'd make life easier for you."

"I inherited quite a lot of money from my parents which luckily was locked away from my relatives so they couldn't steal it" Hadrian replied.

"It must be quite a bit if you can leave your house empty in London and not worry about expenses here. You're still paying rent on the apartment upstairs as well as for most of our groceries" Tim said.

"That's what happens when your closest family keep dying" Hadrian said dryly. "One hundred years or so ago there were about a dozen Potters and they all made a good living off the Potter trust though most of them had jobs as well, now I'm the only one. I don't plan on living off the trust all my life but I need at least a GED to get another job."

"But you said you were a law enforcement agent?" Tim questioned.

"And I was. I've been called in to consult a couple of times by the FBI, and I've done some grunt work when they need an extra w…weapon but they don't need my services full time. My training's too specialised, they said if I want to actually work for them full time I'd have to go through FLETC basic training again" Hadrian said sighing. "I don't know if that's what I want to do though. It's been kind of nice not dealing with murder and hate crimes and having to watch my back 24/7 since I got here." He wasn't being completely honest, he would need to go through FLETC to become a mundane agent, but they would be keen to employ him as an auror full time when a vacancy came up which even if he wasn't avoiding attention in that world, would be too difficult to keep secret from Tim.

Tim nodded "I can understand that" he agreed. "This is my dream job which is why I put up with the hours, and Gibbs attitude and DiNozzo's harassment, but it's not for everyone. Do you have any idea what you would like to do instead?"

"No. I enjoyed tutoring when I was at school but I'd need a lot more education before I could think about teaching"

"You're a good enough cook that you could probably make a living cooking" Tim commented.

"I'd also make an excellent maid, gardener or housekeeper, thanks to my relatives" Hadrian said. "I'd rather not though."

-o0o-

"Hello" Ziva greeted Hadrian as he arrived for the Choux pastry course.

"Hi. You got the weekend off" Hadrian replied. Of course he already knew that because Tim was home writing but Ziva didn't know he knew Tim.

"Yes surprisingly. I can't remember when we last had three weekends off in a line"

"Do you mean in a row?" Hadrian asked. "Yes a row a line it's the same" Ziva said impatiently.

"I won't correct you again if you don't want me too" Hadrian said placatingly.

"I speak eight languages you know, it's just the little sayings that make no sense" Ziva complained.

"I get stuck with some of the differences between English and American too" Hadrian agreed.

"They're the same language" Ziva replied.

"Almost" Hadrian said, "But they use a lot of different names for things and some of the same names for different objects. It's caught me out a few times." Most of the trouble Hadrian had was with the teenage vernacular used by his classmates but he did understand Ziva's frustrations.

"Where do you work to be rostered so many weekends?"

"NCIS, you wouldn't have heard of it" Ziva replied.

"I have actually. Do you know Tim McGee?" Hadrian asked casually, keeping his occlumency at full force so she wouldn't detect any part truths or attempts to mislead her.

"Yes he works on my team" Ziva replied. "How do you know him?"

"He lives in my building. We started chatting one day when he caught me admiring his car one morning. We leave about the same time. He often gives me a ride to the station" Hadrian said giving her an explanation for why he might be with Tim if she ever got nosy enough to try to check up on him again.

"Where do you work?" Ziva asked.

"Quantico" Hadrian replied vaguely. Ziva assumed it was classified and dropped the subject. She hadn't interacted with Hadrian at all in their joint case and didn't recognise him thankfully.

Hadrian left at the end of the class with a sense of satisfaction. He'd finally mastered Choux pastry and got ot know one of Tim's teammates a little better while providing her with a reason not to question their relationship if she saw the two of them together.

-o0o-

As the months went by Hadrian continued to spend very little time in his own apartment which he insisted on keeping for reasons he refused to explain to Tim. In truth Tim didn't mind. The culture of DADT was so ingrained in the navy yard that he didn't know of any gay staff in spite of the fact that the rule only really applied to enlisted men and women. Hadrian's insistence on keeping his own apartment saved Tim from having to explain that he was perfectly willing for Hadrian to move in with him unofficially but couldn't put his name on the lease.

-o0o-

Hadrian visited the British ministry under glamours on his way to see Teddy one day. He hadn't heard from Hermione in a few weeks and wanted to check on her. He made his way to her department without being stopped, resolving to send a note to Robbards and Kingsley about the lack of security, and stopped outside Hermione's office watching her work for a moment before knocking.

"Hello, can I help you?" Hermione asked not recognising the man who looked a lot like one of her husband's brothers.

"Hey Hermione" Hadrian grinned.

"Who are you?" Hermione asked.

"You don't recognise your best friend? I'm crushed, truly and totally crushed. You better send for the healers" Hadrian teased collapsing back into a chair dramatically.

"Harry!" Hermione exclaimed happily. "How are you? Are you home for good?"

"No I had a meeting in London and decided to call in. You haven't written lately, is everything okay?" Hadrian asked.

"Everything's fine Harry" Hermione said frowning. "I didn't realise I hadn't written I've been busy with my research."

"Hermione have you at least visited your Mum and Dad?" Hadrian asked. "They can't just wander down here when they haven't heard from you for a while and they're too worried about upsetting Ron to harass you at home."

"Of course I've visited Mum and Dad" Hermione exclaimed crossly. "I was there the other…" she trailed off as she tried to remember the last time she'd seen her parents. "Oh! I'll go on my way home tonight."

Hadrian smiled shaking his head ruefully. His friend would never change, when she was focussed on her studies or research the rest of the world ceased to exist for her. "Has Ron at least made sure you're eating and sleeping properly?" he asked.

"Yes of course, he drags me out to lunch every day" Hermione said looking at her watch. "He should be here soon, do you want to have lunch with us?"

"I'm afraid I have a prior engagement" Hadrian replied politely.

"You look happy?" Hermione said.

"I am" Hadrian confirmed. "I've met someone."

"That's great Harry is it a witch? Does she have a brother?"

Hadrian laughed. "No. It's a muggle with a sister" he replied.

"Oh? How are you managing the secrecy?"

Hadrian shrugged. "I live in a muggle flat, in fact, I rarely use magic except at work. My new job requires suits not robes. I haven't had a problem with not using magic or keeping it secret. I barely even think about it when I'm with them" he said smiling at the thought of hanging out with Tim.

"But what about when you're at work? How do you explain not having a work telephone?" Hermione asked.

"I use my cell phone" Hadrian replied. "Besides they do use phones in the office."

"I wish you could tell me where you were working" Hermione huffed.

"What difference would it make? Ron will never leave Britain" Harry asked.

"Is it really that classified?" Hermione asked worried. "Are you doing something dangerous?"

"No my job is much safer than being an Auror here would be even if I wasn't me! You don't need to worry about me Hermione" Hadrian reassured his friend. "How's Ron?"

"He's fine, enjoying work. He's not ordering me to do things I don't want to do if that's what you're asking" Hermione replied. "I honestly think you over reacted about the wedding vows, they're just traditional. Molly made the same vows to Arthur and you can't say she doesn't rule the roost at the Burrow."

"Yeah because Arthur lets her" Hadrian reminded his friend but didn't press further. He was glad that things were going well for his two former best mates, though still concerned what could happen if they had a major difference of opinion. He knew that their views on children and working mothers were very different and he was worried that Hermione was going to end up being a very unhappy housewife and full time mother.

"Did you have something to do with Ginny not getting chosen to play for a Quidditch team?" Hermione asked.

"No" Hadrian replied honestly.

"It's just that several other chasers who graduated last year have been signed to teams and you must admit Ginny was better than them" Hermione said.

"Ginny was a better chaser but I was offered several contracts when I graduated. They all had some pretty stringent moral and behavioural clauses in them. The teams don't want people who are going to be on the front page of the prophet for bad behaviour. It makes the team look bad" Hadrian replied. "Where is she working?"

"She isn't. She applied to every vacancy in Diagon Alley and the ministry and nobody would employ her. Maybe you could put in a good word for her" Hermione suggested.

"I didn't have her arrested and we both know she could have spent ten years in Azkaban for what she did. I don't owe her anything" Hadrian replied frustrated.

"People are starting to blame her for you leaving the country" Hermione said. "So it is your fault she can't get work and you said you weren't doing it deliberately."

"She got two NEWTs. That's not my fault. And 'people' aren't wrong. I wouldn't have accepted an overseas posting if she hadn't turned into such a cold hearted bitch when I was injured. I would still be happily engaged and planning our wedding.

"Are you going to see Teddy while you're here?" Hermione asked.

"I've already been there" Hadrian lied not wanting her to be able to tell anyone where he'd be. "He's grown so much."

"I haven't seen him in ages. Something's come up every time I've tried" Hermione said guiltily.

"I wish I could see him more often too" Hadrian replied. He wasn't lying, now Teddy was old enough to play with he'd fallen in love with the little boy and he'd probably call in most days if he moved back to England or Teddy and Andi moved to America.

-o0o-

"Abby's insisting I come clubbing with her this weekend. I've put her off too many times lately" Tim said tiredly one night as he ate the meal Hadrian had kept hot for him. They'd wrapped up a case that day but Tim still didn't get home until nearly 2200.

"Do you want me to meet you there? Then you'll at least have someone to talk to. We can pretend not to know each other" Hadrian offered.

"I'd love to but Abby's just as likely to declare the place is dead boring and drag me off somewhere else" Tim declined.

"Text me when you move and I'll send my friend Rochelle to rescue you" Hades suggested.

"How will I know her?" Tim asked.

"She'll be the redhead throwing herself at you" Hadrian replied smirking.

"No thanks Hades. Though if you wanted to come and throw yourself at me I might take you up on that" Tim joked.

Hades smirked.

Two nights later after hours following Abby around, Tim was regretting not agreeing to let Hades and his friend rescue him. The club they ended up in was overcrowded and smoky. Normally this would have meant he could slip away and Abby would just think she'd lost him in the crowd but he'd done that once too often so Abby was keeping a tight hold on his elbow. He looked around bored, Abby had introduced him to most of the people she spoke to but most of them took one look at him and ignored him.

He was shocked out of his introspection by arms wrapping around his neck. "Come dance with us" the redhead said.

"Rochelle?" Tim questioned not entirely sure the redhead was even a girl.

"You can call me that" he/she said running her hand up around Tim's ear the way he loved.

Tim leaned in. "Hades? What are you doing?" he asked quietly.

"Rescuing you now come dance with me" Hadrian said winking and taking his hand pulling him away from Abby.

Following behind Tim appraised Hadrian's outfit, other than the feminine hairstyle (which was obviously a wig) the rest of Hadrian's outfit was gender neutral and fit in perfectly with the nightclub, black skinny jeans into black heavyweight boots with a slight heel and sheer black shirt over a black singlet top. It wasn't immediately apparent that he wasn't female, with his lack of height contributing to that impression. He looked good enough for Tim to almost forget his reputation as a federal agent and a gentleman and drag his boyfriend to the nearest dark corner and fuck him up against the wall. They reached centre of the dancefloor and Hades spun around putting both hands around Tim's neck pulling him down to kiss him. Tim wrapped his arms around Hadrian's waist pressing his body against his own before moving his hands down to cup his boyfriend's bum. Hadrian had told Tim he wasn't much of a dancer and that was clearly true the couple of times they'd tried but this wasn't dancing. Tim could feel Hadrian's erection rubbing against his own hardness as Hadrian raised himself on tip toe and back down again in time to the music, grinding their erections together.

"Unless you're planning to get lucky in the nearest bathroom stall or even right here in the dance floor in front of everyone you need to back off a little" Tim warned.

"Sorry" Hadrian all but moaned into his ear. He'd cast a mild notice-me-not charm on the two of them as they started dancing so Abby wouldn't pay enough attention to remember who Tim had been with. He knew it wouldn't be sufficient to stop people from noticing if he had a screaming orgasm in the middle of the crowd but he could always strengthen it if he wanted to. The problem with that was that Tim couldn't know about the charms and would be just as embarrassed as if he'd been heard. He needed to back off or get Tim somewhere private, preferably into a comfortable bed. They were nearly an hour from home but only a couple of doors up from the nearest decent hotel so he pulled Tim towards the door. They hurried along the footpath, Hadrian wishing he could just apparate them both back to Tim's bedroom and into the Hotel where Hadrian flashing his black 'no limits' credit card at the receptionist got them a room with a minimum of fuss.

Tim turned and kissed him passionately up against the wall of the elevator as they rode it up to their room, running his hands up under Hadrian's shirt.

Tim pushed Hadrian back against the hotel room door and kissed him passionately. Hadrian's hands were busy undoing Tim's pants and pushing them down before beginning on his own desperate to feel Tim without the barrier of two layers of denim between them. Tim pulled off both their shirts then helped him peel down the skin tight jeans leaving them around his thighs as he grabbed both their erections and worked them as Hadrian thrust against him. After all the teasing in the dancefloor neither man was going to last long but they were too worked up to stop and prep for penetration.

Tim stopped Hadrian as he was about to collapse onto the bed and quickly ripped of the covers exposing clean sheets. Hadrian finished peeling of Hades' jeans. "How'd you get these on by yourself?" Tim asked.

Hadrian shrugged. He couldn't tell Tim he'd used a temporary enlarging charm then nearly cut himself in half when he reversed it without adjusting himself properly.

"Can you take the wig off, it's a little disturbing" Tim said having tried to push it off earlier.

Hadrian laughed and got up to go to the bathroom. He shut the door, morphed his hair back to normal and then transfigured a handful of toilet paper into a wig and hairpins which he brought back to the bedroom and threw on top of his shirt.

Tim smiled watching him return. "You looked really different. I don't know if I would've realised you weren't a girl if I didn't know you." He said hoping he didn't offend his lover.

Hadrian grinned. "That was the point. There would be no point me looking different if I still looked male. Abby still would've told everybody that you got picked up by a bloke."

"Now she'll tell everyone that I'm seeing a redhead. Gibbs has a real thing for redheaded women. It will make it harder to meet him later" Tim warned.

"I didn't think you ever wanted to introduce me to the team as your significant other?" Hadrian said confused.

Tim sighed. "It's not going to be easy but I want us to last and I don't want to hide from my team forever. Eventually I'm going to be ready to tell them."

"I won't push. You'll tell them when you're ready" Hadrian said calmly. "They need a little more time to forget Lord Evander anyway."

Tim smiled. "I love you."

Hadrian pounced on Tim kissing him passionately. "I love you. Well, now I look like myself again what shall we do with this nice soft hotel bed. There's a rather decadent six jet shower in the bathroom too if we get too dirty.

"Oh I think I can handle the task of dirtying you up" Tim said smugly, grabbing Hadrian and flipping them over so he was on top.

Hadrian grinned and rolled them back over kissing him fiercely. Tim grinned too enjoying submitting to Hades. Hadrian kissed his way down Tim's body sucking on his nipples and leaving love bites in sensitive places he knew they wouldn't be seen even in Tim's workout wear. He bypassed Tim's cock to bite at his hipbones and inner thigh causing Tim to moan aloud and start pleading for Hades to fuck him.

"No" Hadrian replied moving up so Tim could watch him prepare himself.

"You want me to fuck you" Tim asked surprised. He'd thought Hades was in a more dominant mood.

"You're on call. If I fuck you as hard as I want to right now you'll have trouble convincing anyone that you were with a girl tonight" Hadrian growled.

Tim blushed a little and realised he shouldn't have been surprised. Hadrian was always careful to be gentle with him when he knew he had to work the next day. He hadn't really thought much about it though he was grateful not to have to deal with that slight after sex soreness while chasing down suspects or sitting on the hard military flights.

Hadrian lowered himself onto Tim's arousal and after minimal time for adjustment started riding him energetically and all Tim's extraneous thoughts came to a screeching halt as all he could concentrate on was his lover.

-o0o-

"You ditched me last Friday" Abby accused, stomping into the bullpen where Tim was searching for information on their latest victim.

"I left you surrounded by friends" Tim refuted. "Friends I might add who were ignoring me. Someone asked me to dance and I had no reason not to go. That club is more your scene than mine anyway.

"You left with that floozy" Abby said angrily.

"Rochelle's not a floozy" Tim defended angrily. "We went somewhere we could hear ourselves talk" he lied. It wasn't totally untrue they had talked a bit after getting each other off the first time. "Leaving with her had just as much to do with getting away from your so called friends rudeness as anything else."

"You didn't even try to dress to fit in last night" Abby complained.

"Fit in with what, you didn't tell me where we were going or give me any sort of choice" Tim snarked back. "I don't even own clothes that would fit in at a club like that and frankly I wouldn't feel comfortable dressing like that."

"I'm doing it for your own good Timmy. Your social life needs my help. Now you've lost weight you could be kind of hot if you..." Abby began.

"Stop!" Tim said holding up his hand. "I don't want or need a woman who thinks I _could_ be kind of hot if I changed this and that" Tim said firmly. "I want someone who appreciates me as I am."

"Where are you going to find a woman like that?" Tony asked laughing.

"Not at some grunge club, that's for sure" Tim retorted.

"So this Rochelle girl isn't the start of something?" Tony asked.

"She was nice. I'll probably meet her again for coffee. See if we're still compatible in the daytime."

"Without the beer coloured glasses she could be a real dog" Tony laughed.

Gibbs had been standing behind him and now slapped Tony across the back of the head. "Thanks Boss" Tony said facetiously.

"Back to work. What can you tell me about that petty officer?" Gibbs growled.

Tim stepped up to the plasma and pulled up the information he had ready to present.

"I've been taking cooking classes at the local neighbourhood house, maybe you could go along to something like that. There were a lot of nice women there that might appreciate a man like you" Ziva suggested later. "And if not at least you'd learn to cook instead of living on takeout. Taking a class wouldn't be changing who you are."

Tim grinned. Taking a cooking class with Hades sounded like a whole lot of fun if he could guarantee Ziva wouldn't be there but he couldn't see himself taking one on his own and putting up with women flirting with him. He understood why Hades had outed himself within minutes of walking into the class. "I'll think about it" he said noncommittally.

"I've got a class on Saturday if we're not working. I could bring you a schedule" Ziva offered.

"Ziva, just because I like to keep my private life well away from Abby's manipulations and DiNozzy over there, doesn't mean that I don't have one" Tim said quietly

Ziva smiled. "Okay then I'll back off" she said.

A/N: Thank you to Lientjuhh, julschristine975, Kourtney Uzu Yato, Gracie15Trowa, xDarklightx, Firehedgehog, charm13insomnia, icyquest4, Nozomi Higurashi, Rori Potter, Almonda, Guest, Village-Mystic, acherongoddess, Silvermane1, Pikachu79, DS2010, Afrodity, gabrieljuarezl, buterflypuss, Merlenyn, Guest, magicatheart, Dedelle, daisybell101, Goldenkitte, Lady Vindex, ibdemented, siobhan.22, Fridde, loriemiller1986, Iluna, slightlycrazy'nneedofsaving, kodaful1, smiles07, frivoloushumdinger, Altair snape black, xxMidnightWolfyxx, celinette9221, Jakerin, CieLavi, PhantomGirl17, roronoazolosgirl, Bronkwin2, No-One-Important666, Elegant Darkness, ebeavis1991, fandjio, Haunt of twilight, Mashkai30, Mayamechan, Tzapporah, Tanaraza, cjewellm, Atie, BetaZackFan, NiaMaggie, Hogwarts2187 **,** neccowaferlover, Dredrod, kdarnell2, Sweet-single, iBeta, zentry, .5, DevilishAngel666, Idekdftba, Slyver Thief, calileane, fictionfangirl3, danbear and Bella216 for your support.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or NCIS or any of their characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do NOT give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

-o0o-

Hadrian had been feeling off colour for the last few weeks. He'd gone to the muggle doctor who hadn't been able to find a cause his regular blood work had all come back as normal. When he started feeling a difference in his magical core he knew he'd have to take the risk and see a healer.

In his first few weeks in Washington, he'd investigated where the magical hospital, government offices and shopping districts were, more so he could avoid those parts of town as much as possible though he had been there a couple of times to access Gringotts and replace his wand. He'd been there on patrol of course but his Auror robes had been issued with a built in official glamour designed to be difficult to notice, and illegal to attempt to break or see through. So he now disguised himself with muggle makeup, a hat and sunglasses and walked along the edges of the shopping district looking for a healer who had private rooms.

The first healer he approached refused to give him a confidentiality oath claiming that his regular oaths would be sufficient. Hadrian disagreed and walked out without giving him any details beyond the name Mr Black.

The second healer was more accommodating having worked in England twenty years earlier and remembering how many details leaked from the hospital there in spite of the patient/healer confidentiality agreements.

After giving his oath he put Hadrian through some routine scans without finding a problem then asked to see his medical records for comparison. Seeing the thickness of the file compiled by Madam Pomfrey as well as the healers at St Mungo's he requested time to read through it thoroughly and Hadrian therefore made an appointment for early the next week.

-o0o-

Hadrian waited anxiously for the appointment feeling worse each day. Tim had noticed and wanted to take him to his own doctor for a check-up. Hadrian put him off claiming that he'd already seen someone and had a follow up appointment with a doctor who knew his history next week.

After a miserable weekend where Tim luckily had been called out on a major case so Hadrian was able to keep the worst of his illness to himself he presented to the healer desperately hoping for a cure.

The healer obviously realised after reading his medical file that he was Harry Potter and understood the need for the additional oaths. He reassured Hadrian that he had very little contact with British healers these days and would not give away his patient's location.

He repeated several of the routine scans finding some slight vitamin deficiencies that hadn't been there the week before.

"Have you been nauseas? Or is there a reason you've not been eating well?" he asked.

"Nausea. Every evening for the last couple of weeks but I only started actually vomiting a few days ago" Hadrian confirmed.

"I noticed you were hit by the bearer transfiguration charm a few months ago. Is it possible you're pregnant."

Hadrian blushed "I have been with someone that way but he's a muggle. I was told I could only be impregnated by a wizard" he mumbled.

"Americans use the term mundane or nonmagical" Healer Roberts corrected gently.

"Yes I did know that, sorry I forgot. I didn't mean to insult anyone. I live in the nonmagical world and haven't had much contact with wizards since I arrived in America other than work" Hadrian explained. "Do you really think I could be pregnant?"

"That's fine, I didn't take offence but be careful because there are those that will" the healer said reassuringly casting the spell to check for pregnancy.

"You are definitely pregnant" he said gently.

"But how? I thought it had to be a wizard?" Hadrian asked, shocked.

"Yes. Normally it does. There are several possibilities. The most likely is that one of your partners was a wizard and didn't tell you" Healer Roberts said practically as he cast more spell to diagnose the gestational age and health of the baby. "You're nine weeks pregnant so intercourse would have occurred towards the end of August."

"No, I've only had one partner and I've lived with him for over a year. I would have noticed if he was a wizard. There is definitely nothing magical in his apartment" Hadrian protested.

"That leaves four possibilities, one that you had consensual sex with a wizard at the end of August and don't remember, possibly because you were obliviated, or you are so powerful that you could be impregnated by a mundane though I would have thought that even if that were the case it would take several fertility potions or spells. It's more likely that your partner has had his magic bound for some reason, or he's your soulmate."

"I wouldn't have cheated on Tim" Hadrian dismissed the first possibility.

"With your permission I can cast a long term spell effect diagnosis to confirm that?" Healer Robert said. "It's a bit of an invasion of your privacy because every spell cast on you will show up even the personal spells you cast on yourself."

"You really think that's possible? That I was potioned or raped and obliviated?" Hadrian asked worriedly. "Go ahead and cast the spell."

Healer Roberts cast the spell and tapped a piece of parchment. The parchment started to fill with a list of the spells most recently cast on Hadrian, quickly working its way backwards.

"There's no dates. How will we know when the spells from the end of August are?" Hadrian asked.

"We need to date some of the spells you do recognise" the Healer said. "The fact that you don't regularly use shaving or tooth cleaning spells means that this will go back quite a long way. There are quite a few duelling jinxes and minor curses starting to show up."

"That was when I was duelling the cadets back in July" Hadrian said looking at the spells.

"Then if you had been obliviated in August the spell would already be on here" Healer Roberts said looking for any spells which could affect memory or free will. "There's nothing."

"What about potions?" Hadrian asked.

"That's a little more complicated. I'd need seven drops of your blood" Healer Roberts said getting out a clean sharp knife and shallow bowl, pouring in a murky green potion. Hadrian added his blood to the bowl and Healer Roberts added a quill and cast several spells before putting the quill on a clean piece of parchment. "Again you'll need to remember when you took potions to work out the time frame."

"I take a weekly nutrient potion, more if I'm not eating properly and a monthly liver function potion" Hadrian said. "I don't think I've missed any so we just need to count back that one three times."

"That helps" the healer agreed.

Again there weren't any potions in the last six months that Hadrian hadn't been aware of taking.

"That rules that out" Hadrian said relieved. "What were the other possibilities again? I'm afraid I freaked out at the possibility of having been raped via spell or potion and didn't pay much attention."

"That's understandable" Healer Roberts said also relieved that he didn't have to inform his patient that he'd been abused and obliviated. "I mentioned the unlikely possibility that you are so powerful that you could be impregnated by a mundane though I would have thought that even if that were the case it would take several fertility potions or spells, which we clearly didn't find evidence of. The most reasonable explanation would be that your partner has for some reason had his magic bound or his core fractured during his mother's pregnancy in which case he may believe he's what you would call a squib."

"Why would anyone have their magic bound?" Hadrian asked disbelievingly.

"There are some first generation magic users whose parents refuse to send them to a magical school that have their magic bound to prevent further accidental magic each year. And there are some families with generational bindings in place because an ancestor committed a heinous crime against the non-magical world" Healer Roberts explained.

"So a wizard with their magic bound could still impregnate me?" Hadrian asked.

"The chances of it happening are normally quite low but it has happened" the healer confirmed.

"And with your power levels I'd have to say it's quite possible. Frankly it is more likely than meeting your soulmate, which I would put at less than seven billion to one odds."

"I don't know that I even believe in soulmates. Is there some way of knowing if Tim's magic has been bound?"

"There's no way to test him for it without him knowing if that's what you're asking. There is a test but it's highly illegal and will hurt him quite a lot and would likely damage any magical channels he had. I wouldn't advise it. Child services keep a register of children whose magic they bind. They keep an eye on them for several years afterwards to be sure there are no adverse effects."

"Are the child and their parents obliviated?" Hadrian asked. "Or is the child contacted when they reach adulthood to see if they agree with the binding or wish to have it reversed?"

"It's nearly impossible to remove the bindings so there's no point in contacting the children as they come of age" the healer explained gently.

"Depriving children of their magic like that is a monstrous thing to do" Hadrian exclaimed.

"Yes, it is, but the alternative is to remove the child from their home and alter the parents' memories so they believe their child has died. Many first generation children were severely abused or even killed when we forced parents to accept that their child was magical."

Hadrian nodded. There hadn't been any muggleborns he was aware of being abused at Hogwarts but then he supposed that they might have kept the abuse a secret out of shame, much as he had.

"So can I access the records to find out if his magic has been bound?" Hadrian asked.

"You're an Auror?" Healer Roberts confirmed.

"Auxiliary Auror really, I help out when they need an extra but mostly I consult in cases that might involve fugitives from the war in Britain" Hadrian explained.

"Then it's possible you could apply to access the records but I could do it more quietly as a registered healer, if you can give me his full name and what state he would have lived in when he was eight. Does it really matter to you though? You're pregnant, knowing how it happened isn't going to change anything" Healer Roberts said gently.

"It might make it easier to explain to Tim though. Timothy McGee, no middle name. His father was in the navy so they moved around a lot. I'm not even sure he lived in America when he was eight" Hadrian replied trying to think back through Tim's stories to find a reference point.

"Well that might make it easier actually there is a register kept of all military personal who have a magical relative. Particularly if the family has joined them on an overseas posting" Roberts said making a note.

"Can you do that? I'd like to know how it happened before I tell him" Hadrian asked. "I haven't told him about magic yet. He's never going to believe all this."

"If his family has had his magic bound they're not likely to respond well to a magical grandchild but your young man himself probably wouldn't have had any input into the decision to bind his magic. This is going to be a very difficult thing to tell him" Roberts warned. "I would suggest you go home today and tell him about the wizarding world and then if he accepts that you can tell him about your pregnancy"

"Yeah but am I allowed to tell him. What about the statute of secrecy?" Hadrian asked.

"That doesn't apply to the parent of a magical child" Healer Robert's reminded him gently. "Do you want me to give you the contact details of an obliviator in case he doesn't take it well."

"I'm a trained Auror. I could do it myself" Hadrian said.

"I don't recommend that. Your magic will react to your emotions much more strongly while you are pregnant" the healer said gently.

"No I better have the contact details" Hadrian admitted hoping he wouldn't need them. It was next to impossible to obliviate a trained obliviator and he would probably have to move again if too many people in the government knew where he was living. Not that that would be too much of a problem, even if he didn't have to go into seclusion to hide his pregnancy he didn't think he could bear to be near Tim if he couldn't be with him.

"Let's finish the examination. I don't know how much you know about magical pregnancies. The baby is currently connected to your magic. There is no way to terminate the pregnancy without turning yourself into a squib and you'd be lucky to survive it" Healer Roberts replied.

"I want to keep the baby anyway. It won't be its fault of its other father doesn't want it" Hadrian said determinedly.

-o0o-

Hadrian left the healers office resolved to tell Tim about magic that night. Unfortunately, he got a phone message saying that they were flying to Gitmo to interrogate a terrorist about a new threat and wouldn't be back until after Hadrian's next appointment with the healer. Hadrian informed Auror Clancy of his pregnancy and the head Auror congratulated him though he'd clearly been surprised and removed him from the roster of field agents without grumbling about the extra work though he did point out that he wouldn't be able to offer Hadrian as many hours work if he was unable to go out in the field.

"To be honest I don't much care for desk work, and if I work less hours maybe I'll be able to get my GED before the baby's born" Hadrian had replied.

Clancy laughed, "well if you're happy about it then I could put you on leave starting immediately. We'll still call you in if we get hints that one of your lot are causing trouble."

"Thanks" Hadrian said gratefully.

"Not feeling quite up to par?" Clancy said observantly. "You go home and get some rest and leave me to reschedule this lot" he said referring to the next month's patrol roster.

"Thank you Sir" Hadrian replied before going to clear out his locker.

He spent the next few days catching up on his sleep and finding foods that didn't set off his nausea.

-o0o-

"Your pregnancy is progressing well. The baby's healthy and developing nicely" the healer reported as he finished his exam.

"Can you tell if the baby is magical?" Hadrian asked.

"There has never been a nonmagical baby born to a wizard bearer though I won't be able to tell the potential strength of their magic until after birth I can guarantee the baby will be a witch or wizard" the healer reassured his patient.

"Have you been able to find any records of Tim's magic being sealed?" Hadrian asked.

"Yes Timothy McGee had his magic sealed at age eight when his parents refused to allow him to attend magical education. Timothy was recorded as being upset with their decision and obliviated of all contact with the wizarding world."

"So he might accept this. We're his parents religious?" Hadrian asked knowing this was a frequent cause of problems with parents of muggleborns or first generations. He knew Tim didn't attend church but that didn't mean one of his parents didn't have faith.

"The reason listed for their refusal was that their son would need a normal education to become a naval officer" healer Roberts reported.

Hadrian snorted "Tim gets seasick. He'd make a lousy naval officer. He's practically been disowned by his father for refusing to join the navy."

"Ironically I could easily cure his seasickness and many witches and wizards are accepted into the navy. The binding itself may even be the cause of his seasickness. It often causes minor inner ear problems."

Hadrian laughed. "I wish someone could tell that to Admiral McGee."

"Have you told Tim about being a wizard?" Healer Roberts asked.

"No he's been away on a case. He'll be home tonight" Hadrian said smiling anxiously.

"If I were you I wouldn't tell him until tomorrow. Let him settle back in to being home" Roberts suggested.

"I'll do that" Hadrian agreed.

"Tell him soon though Mr Black. Waiting to tell him is causing you stress and that isn't good for the baby" Healer Roberts said seriously.

-o0o-

Hadrian had been prepared for Tim to arrive home late that night. He had mashed potatoes and Tim's favourite casserole waiting under a stasis charm to be dished up. The apartment was almost unnaturally tidy (A sign to anyone observant that Hadrian was stressed about something), the sheets had been changed and Hadrian was sitting on the couch trying to look like he'd been reading.

He looked up and smiled as Tim walked through the door giving him time to acclimatise himself before walking over and kissing him warmly.

"Welcome home" he said simply.

"It's good to be home" Tim replied returning the kiss.

"Are you hungry? Dinner should be just about ready"

Tim smiled "starving" he said sniffing appreciatively at the smell of dinner.

Hadrian dished up dinner wondering whether it was a good idea to let Tim eat before telling him about magic and the baby. He was too nervous to eat much but Tim just thought that he still wasn't feeling well. Hadrian sat watching Tim eat noticing how tired he looked. Tim had barely finished his meal before he started falling asleep at the table. Hadrian shook him gently and walked him into the bedroom. Helping him shower and putting him to bed. Tim enjoyed the gentle care Hadrian was taking as he undressed him and washed his hair. His body did react to being washed but Hadrian ignored his erection while they showered, knowing that it would soon subside and Tim was really too tired to make good use of it tonight. He tucked Tim into bed and cuddled up next to him, trying to relax.

"You don't have to stay with me if you're not sleepy" Tim said.

Hadrian leaned over and kissed him lightly. "I want to" he said. "I've missed you."

"I've missed you too love" Tim replied sleepily.

"I love you" Hadrian whispered as his boyfriend fell asleep.

-o0o-

"There's something I should tell you but I have no idea how to do it" Hadrian said as they relaxed on the couch the next day. After much consideration he couldn't bring himself to call the obliviators. Tim deserved to remember that he was a father even if he chose to have nothing to do with Hadrian or the baby. Hadrian had cast his modified Fidelius on the secret so Tim couldn't betray him, not that he thought he would. Tim knew the meaning of classified and how to keep the secrets he needed to keep from people who didn't have the clearance to know them.

Tim stiffened, Hadrian's tone of voice made the sentence sound a little too much like the dreaded. 'We need to talk'. "Are you trying to break up with me?" He asked anxiously.

"Merlin no!" Hadrian exclaimed turning to look Tim in the eyes. "Do you want to break up?" He asked stiffly.

"No of course not I've never been in a relationship that made me this happy" Tim replied relieved Hadrian didn't want to end their relationship. "I just keep thinking that it's too good to last."

"I feel the same way" Hadrian said kissing Tim on the cheek.

Tim returned the kiss with interest but Hadrian drew back before they could get carried away.

"There's something I need to you to know about me. You're probably going to be upset for not telling you before now but I really wasn't allowed" Hadrian said uncertainly.

"Are you allowed to tell me now? What's changed?" Tim asked confused. "Has it become declassified?"

"Not exactly. I'll be allowed to tell you eventually but it's more you need to know now" Hadrian said.

"Okay. Is this about why you had to leave England?" Tim asked curiously.

"Not exactly. Though once you know this, there's no reason I can't explain that too if you want me to" Hadrian said getting up and starting to pace around the cluttered room.

"Hades calm down a minute and spit it out" Tim said torn between amused at his lover's behaviour and concerned.

"I'm a wizard" Hadrian blurted out.

"What?" Tim asked confused.

"I'm a wizard" Hadrian repeated slightly more clearly.

"That's what I thought you said but what did you mean? Tim asked warily.

"I mean that I can do magic, real magic not just magic tricks. I'm a wizard and my mum and Dad were a witch and a wizard" Hadrian rambled.

"Magic, like turning people into toads or something? That's impossible isn't it?" Tim protested.

"The magical world has been hidden from the rest of the world for centuries but witches and wizards are as real as you are" Hadrian stated quietly.

"Can you show me?" Tim asked carefully wondering whether his boyfriend had lost his mind.

Hadrian picked up a book off the table and with a wave of his hand turned it blue and levitated it slowly over to Tim who put a shaky hand out to catch it. "I've never turned someone into a toad but it would be possible if you were good enough at transfiguration."

Tim sat there silently staring for a good ten minutes while his brain tried to process what he'd seen. He had to accept he wasn't hallucinating so magic must be real. Hadrian was a wizard. He started to think about all the things that had seemed odd about his boyfriend and wondered whether being a wizard could explain them.

"So you're a wizard. Is that why I've never heard of the branch of law enforcement you worked in? And your area of expertise is magical crimes?" Tim asked. 

"Yes though my area of expertise is specifically the British wizarding terrorist group called the Death Eaters. They're not really a problem in this part of the world. I was sent here because I'm sort of a national icon to the British wizarding world and the minister of magic didn't want to risk me being killed on his watch. It would harm his chances of re-election" Hadrian said cynically. 

"A national icon? What did you do?" Tim asked surprised. 

Hadrian sighed. "I was credited with ending two wars. The first time Voldemort was destroyed when the killing curse rebounded instead of killing me. Nobody's exactly sure how it happened but of course the bigots in the establishment wanted to believe it had something to do with the baby from an old pureblood line instead of being the result of something my muggleborn mother did. The second time I killed him more by luck than anything else but both times his followers tried to blend back into the woodwork and it ended the war." 

"It's hard to believe there could be a war in England without us even hearing about it" Tim commented. 

"You might have noticed the increase in freak weather damage, accidents, sudden structural failures and terrorist attacks nobody took credit for" Hadrian replied.

"Yeah it seemed like Britain had the worse luck there for a while, are you saying they were because of the war?" 

"They were the result of Death Eater attacks" Hadrian confirmed.

"Death Eaters?" Tim asked. 

"What Voldemort's supporters called themselves. Appropriate really when mouldy Voldy thought Voldemort was French for flight of death" Hadrian replied. "I've got a book about it that's fairly accurate if you want. It was released a couple of weeks ago." 

Tim could see that Hades was forcing himself to talk about this. "Would it be easier for you if I read it?" He asked. 

"Yeah. I want you to know about this stuff particularly as you and our family could be at risk if they find me, but I just can't talk about it" Hadrian said sighing. The release of the biography authored by one of his closest friends had been a real blow. 

"How accurate is the book?" Tim asked. 

"Too bloody accurate" Hadrian said bitterly. "It was written by Hermione, my best friend. I never thought she could do that to me." 

"Did you ask her why?" Tim asked softly. 

"I can't directly ask her why without revealing that I'm still in touch with my godson. His grandmother Andi said Hermione told her she wrote it in response to several less flattering stories some of my other class mates, including my bitch of an ex-fiance" Hadrian replied. "Kingsley confirmed that it has helped shore up public opinion in my favour but it's one of the reasons I'll never move back to Britain even if it does become safe to do so." 

"We'll I'm glad you're staying here" Tim said hugging him again. "But I'm sorry that you feel that you can't go home." 

'I'd stay for you and our family anyway' Hadrian thought smiling fondly at his lover.

A/N: Thank you to Kourtney Uzu Yato, icyquest4, xDarklightx, Almonda, julschristine975, Locket1, buterflypuss, Rori Potter, Silvermane1, acherongoddess, DS2010, Merlenyn, lillisa34, Village-Mystic, theShirker, Bigheadcat, anime adict44, MavisDracula118, Mtulipa, XxD3V1L-ANG3LxX, Ryry the dark, Ruby769, blackgirl663, lexypooh, emerald23dragon, M4RYJ0, Pamy91, Yin Long Nocturne, Sakya, vxgt, chibirosegirl, Emma Buitendijk, Altair4, Sushivore, Rawrimallama1390, CheliGirl, ilovemyfatboys13, Stolid-Scholar, unicatDora, henkieshome and WouldYouLikeAChallenge for your support.

A/N2: I don't believe in soul mates. The idea that there is one person out of the 7.4 Billion people on the planet that's perfect for you and that you statistically have a lot more chance of winning first division lotto every week for a year than meeting them isn't romantic. It would be tragic.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or NCIS or any of their characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do NOT give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

"How many of you are there? Wizards I mean, how many in the world?" Tim asked. "And how can a whole wizarding population be hidden like that?"

"In America I don't know how many there are? In England there are somewhere between forty and one hundred witches or wizards born each year" Hadrian said.

"So about 4900 people or so! About one in 6,500" Tim said.

Hadrian thought for a moment "Probably about twice that because we live much longer than non-magical people"

"How much longer? Is that why you look so much younger than you are?" Tim asked.

Hadrian blushed "Yeah probably but I'm twenty-one, I was only nineteen when we met he admitted. "I didn't mean to mislead you about my age at the time. I talked about coming of age a few years before we met, which happens in our world at seventeen. I didn't realise until later you thought I meant I was twenty-three or four. And when I did realise it I didn't know how to tell you. I realised I was actually underage in your culture and I was worried you would have trouble taking me seriously."

"Oh god I'm a paedophile" Tim exclaimed in horror.

"No Tim you had no reason to know I was still a teenager. I was a war veteran at seventeen and a fully trained agent at eighteen. It's not your fault that you thought I was older than I was. I've been dealing with adult issues since I was a child, if I ever was. I had to fight for my life at eleven, and nearly every year since. I sometimes think my childhood ended when my parents were killed. I was nothing like an ordinary teenager. You weren't attracted to me because I was only nineteen, we connected because of common experience not because you're attracted to teenage boys."

Tim sighed, "You're right, I've never been the slightest bit interested in any other teenager in my life. Not since I was one myself anyway. And you certainly don't behave anything like a normal teenager. Do other wizards grow up faster than people without magic? Mentally and Emotionally?"

"Not here in America from what I've seen of the cadets" Hadrian said amused. "It was different in England for my generation and my parents' generation because the war affected us all. But wands can be used for curses, harmful spells as well as benign spells. So we are in effect an armed society from the age of eleven."

"Which brings us back to the question how you can hide a whole society let alone magic from the rest of the world?" Tim said disbelievingly.

"Here the wizarding world is very mixed in with the rest of the world. Children are taught from a very young age not to talk about magic, and who'd listen to a kid anyway. People would think they imagined it. Think of it as a secret religion, like the underground Christians and Jews in the Soviet Union. In Britain the worlds are completely separate. Our government building, our hospital, our school and our shopping centre all have wards on them to prevent non magical people from being able to notice them or enter the area. Many wizards put wards like that up on their homes as well. Other than the muggleborn (witches and wizards with muggle parents) most of our citizens simply don't exist outside the wizarding world. They have no birth records, health records or school records. They don't drive, vote or pay taxes. Some people go their whole lives without leaving the wizarding enclaves" Hadrian tried to explain.

"So why are you telling me this now? Is there some reason I'm suddenly allowed to know or are you breaking rules to tell me?"

Hadrian looked frightened for a second before trying to smile. "Family and significant others are allowed to know. Normally I would've been allowed to tell you when our relationship reached the stage that we decided to move in together permanently but ..."

"We kind of went about things a bit backwards" Tim agreed. "So what made you think you were ready to tell me?"

Hadrian took a deep breath and gathered his courage. "I'm pregnant" he said bluntly.

"What!?" Tim said feeling faint.

"I'm going to have a baby" Hadrian said. "We're going to have a baby."

Tim sunk down to the couch. "How?" He asked shakily. "Can all wizards get pregnant? Why didn't you tell me? You were the one that didn't care when the condoms kept breaking. Did you want to get pregnant? Why didn't you talk to me about it?"

"It's not like that. I didn't think you could get me pregnant" Hadrian said.

"Then how did it happen?" Tim asked.

"There's a spell that makes it possible for two gay wizards to have a baby" Hadrian started to explain.

"And you decided to cast a spell like that without asking me?" Tim asked incredulously, reddening with anger.

"No it wasn't like that. I didn't..."

Tim got up abruptly and grabbed his coat. "I'm going for a walk" he said slamming the door behind him.

Hadrian stood in the middle of the lounge for a moment wondering what to do. Tim hadn't asked him to go but Hadrian believed it might only be a matter of time before he came back and demanded he leave the apartment. He sighed and slowly started gathering his stuff shrinking it and putting it in his pockets to make it less awkward to leave if Tim asked him to.

-o0o-

Tim strode towards the park too upset to trust himself behind the wheel. He didn't really know what he should be feeling. On one hand he was incredibly angry that Hades had done this without talking to him. 'It wasn't as if he was with a girl and the birth control had failed, Hadrian had cast a spell to fall pregnant which had to be on the same level as poking holes in condoms or deliberately taking fertility hormones instead of birth control. He'd manipulated the situation to trap him' Tim thought becoming more and more furious every time he thought about it. On the other hand, if this hadn't happened Tim would have been delighted to know Hades was taking the relationship as seriously as he was and planning on a long term future with him. After about an hour of angrily stomping around Tim began to calm down and think more rationally. Looking back on the conversation Tim recognised how stressed Hadrian was right from the start, how important Tim's acceptance was to him but was still too angry to go back and talk to him, yet.

Unfortunately, before he had time to work things out further he received a call from Tony to meet them at a crime scene in Rock Creek Park. Sighing he fished his keys out of his coat and walked back to his car. He considered calling Hades to let him know but decided to let the issue rest for a bit resolving to call when he knew more about the situation at the crime scene and hopefully when he was likely to be home. Hopefully by then he would be feeling ready to talk to Hadrian without yelling at him. And to listen to his lover's explanation. Because even as angry as he was he had to admit he still loved the younger man.

He tried to put all thoughts of Hades out of his mind as he drove carefully to the crime scene easily locating the truck and met up with the others ready to work.

"We weren't on call" he said questioningly.

"Multiple homicides. The other teams are already out on other cases. It's been a bad weekend to be a marine" Tony said.

Thwack, Gibbs slapped Tony and Tim across the back of their heads.

"Thanks Boss" Tony said.

"Get to work. Tim ID on the victims. Tony photos and sketches. Ziva who found the bodies?"

"The family are over that way with the local LEOs. Mother father and two young boys" Ziva reported.

"Secure the perimeter and search the area" Gibbs ordered before heading over to talk to the family.

"Can I approach the bodies to get an ID, Ducky?" Tim asked waiting for Tony to finish photographing them in place before moving closer.

"Yes I can't do anymore until I get them back to autopsy" Ducky said straightening up. "Mr Palmer we're ready for the stretchers" he called.

"Coming Doctor" Jimmy called back.

Tim checked the ID of each of the three victims noticing that they all shared a last name. Digging further into their files he found that they also listed the same next of kin, one of the bigwigs in the department of defence. He took fingerprints with his scanner and confirmed the identities.

Deciding that Gibbs needed this information as soon as possible he started walking over towards where the Boss was still interviewing the family who found the bodies. Waiting at a respectful distance to be acknowledged he noticed facial similarities between the victims and the young father. He carefully surveyed the surroundings, calling Ziva to appraise her of his suspicions. He then started to send a text to Gibbs hoping the man would understand the urgency of the information if he was correct and forgive him for interrupting an interview. Gibbs gut must also be pinging for him to spend so much time on this interview. These witnesses were either suspects or potential targets for the killer, or perhaps both. Tim still had his phone out when it and his arm were hit by a bullet. He quickly turned and returned fire winging his attacker who then tried to flee. Gibbs chased after him like he was thirty years younger than he was. Nobody was allowed to hurt those he thought of as his own. The attacker stopped and fired at Gibbs at an angle that gave Tim another clear shot which he took, Tony and Gibbs also fired at the attacker as he reached a motorbike not wanting him to get away, or risk him doubling back towards the team and the witnesses and shooting again if one of them was the actual target.

Gibbs covered Tony as he closed the distance and checked on the assailant. "He's dead boss" he called.

"I'll call Fornell" Gibbs replied pulling out his phone to contact his friend. It was procedure that shootings were not investigated by the shooter's own agency and he wanted someone he could trust on the investigating team.

Having confirmed the assailant was deceased and photographed the scene, Tony looked around for his team-mates. Ziva was still working with Ducky bagging and tagging the original scene but Tim was lying on the ground. "Gibbs Tim's down" Tony yelled running across to his probie. "Tim can you hear me?"

"Yeah I hear you" Tim replied weakly, trying to keep pressure on his wound with his other hand.

Tony took over yelling for Ducky and dialling 911.

Ducky came over and stabilised McGee. "Hang in there, dear boy, it's a through and through, you're going to be fine" Ducky said keeping Tim talking and assessing his condition until the ambulance arrived.

Gibbs ordered DiNozzo to accompany Tim to the hospital where he was rushed to surgery.

-o0o-

Hours later, after he'd been moved from recovery to the ward and reunited with his belongings, Tim tried to use his phone to call Hadrian but the phone was completely dead, not surprising with the damage it took from the bullet. He borrowed Tony's phone and called the house phone but there was no answer and he didn't remember Hadrian's cell number. He thought about leaving a message but his pain medication and anaesthetic addled mind couldn't work out what he wanted to say so in the end said nothing.

-o0o-

Dinner time came and went. Hadrian had cooked some of Tim's favourite foods but when he didn't arrive home couldn't summon the motivation to eat and packaged the meal up into individual servings and leaving one in the fridge put them in the freezer. His stomach was too tied in knots to eat. The healers had warned him that as a result of his long term starvation as a child he would always have difficulty maintaining a healthy weight without potions but he hated the taste they left in his mouth. Knowing he had to eat for the sake of the baby he made himself a bowl of porridge. He smiled sadly at the bowl wishing Tim was home to laugh at him for eating it. Tim always teased him for liking the bland dish but it was a real comfort food to him. His relatives had never had porridge in the house so he associated it with Hogwarts breakfasts. He forced himself to eat then walked slowly up to his own apartment to take his potions.

Alone in the unloved in space he emptied his pockets onto the table but couldn't bring himself to unshrink his belongings and put them away. He hurried back down to the apartment he shared with Tim hoping he'd be there and willing to talk.

The apartment was still dark and empty and the message light on the answering machine wasn't flashing. Hadrian sighed, he roamed around unable to settle, he was no longer sure of his welcome here in what had been his home but couldn't stay away.

-o0o-

In spite of being from one of the purest of pure blood families Andromeda Tonks had embraced muggle technology. Hadrian kept in regular contact with her and his godson Teddy by phone as well as the weekly visits by international port key.

She rang Hadrian Sunday night and he was alarmed to hear Andromeda gasping for breath. "Andi what's wrong?" he exclaimed.

"It's my heart. I saw the healer last week but there's not much they can do. The potions aren't working anymore"

"Is someone there helping you?" Hadrian asked.

"No, Molly offered to take Teddy" Andromeda replied.

"Did you let her?" Hadrian asked anxiously.

"No I wanted to wait until I'd spoken to you. I'm worried if Molly takes him she'll decide I'm not well enough to have him back" Andromeda said.

"Do you both want to come and stay with me for a while? My healer says that the healers in Great Britain are really limited by the pure blood ideas of what's acceptable so the healers here might be able to help in ways your healer hasn't heard about" Hadrian offered.

"You're a godsend Harry" she said gratefully.

"Would you like me to come over and help you pack seeing it will be safer to get a portkey from here?" Hadrian asked. "It will take me about an hour to organise."

"I'll see you in an hour then" Andromeda said tiredly. "Thank you."

Hadrian scrawled a quick note for Tim that he'd been called away to a family emergency and would be back in the next day or so. It took him nearly two hours to convince the weekend manager of the department of magical travel that he needed an emergency return portkey to London but finally Hadrian managed to convey his urgency.

Hadrian arrived to find Andromeda lying on her death bed. "Thank Merlin you're here" she gasped.

"Andromeda" Hadrian exclaimed. He wanted to call for a healer but Andromeda refused.

"There's nothing more they can do. The potions don't work anymore. They warned me today that it would only be a couple of days" she explained. "Even if your healers could do something, I'm not well enough to port key to America."

"Oh Andi" Hadrian said hugging the woman gently.

"Will you take full custody of Teddy?" She asked.

"Of course I will" Hadrian agreed immediately. "Who do you want me to call for you?" he asked.

"No-one. Teddy and I have become a bit isolated since my Ted passed. There's nobody I'd want here more than you lad. Please just sit here with me until I'm gone then you can owl St Mungo's" Andromeda said quietly. "Teddy is sleeping. He knows I'm unwell but I didn't know how to tell him I was dying" Andi said sadly. "He's not old enough to truly understand."

Hadrian took her hand. "I'm going to miss you Andi" he said.

"Take good care of our little boy. I know you love him as much as I do and he's reaching the age he'd be better off with you anyway" Andi replied.

"I live in a muggle apartment building. I'll have to buy a house" Hadrian said.

"Oh I don't want to upset your life" Andromeda said sadly. "Hermione's his godmother and she could take him" she suggested doubtfully.

"And I'd never get to see him" Hadrian groaned. "Would he be better off with her? Does he see Hermione more often than me? Does she love him? Does he love her?" Hadrian asked.

"No she's busy with her apprenticeship, Teddy hasn't seen her in months. She was supposed to come today but I got an owl making her excuses this morning" Andromeda said. "He much prefers your visits. Hermione would be likely to leave him with Molly during the day as well" she added knowing how little Harry trusted the redheaded mother of seven.

"Or Molly will convince her to let her have custody entirely" Hadrian said crossly. "I want him Andi. I would have had to find a more private place soon anyway I'm pregnant." He closed his eyes in horror, if she wasn't going to be around in three or four months' time then Andi hadn't needed to know. He hoped he hadn't ruined everything. Andi had grown up in a pureblood home, would she still even let him be around her grandson now she knew he was gay, let alone have custody.

"Oh Hadrian that's wonderful" Andromeda said, then saw his face.

"I thought you wouldn't want to leave Teddy with me if you knew I was in a relationship with another man" Hadrian said shocked.

"I know better than most people that you don't get to choose who you fall in love with. When I was disowned for loving my Ted I swore to myself I wouldn't ever judge someone for who they loved. We had a wonderful marriage. It was worth all the sacrifices we made to be together" Andi said smiling reminiscently.

Hadrian smiled sadly, hoping that one day he would be able to look back on his life and remember a love like that.

"It is wonderful, isn't it?" She asked perceiving there was something wrong. "It's what you've always wanted, a family of your own. Not to mention an heir for the Potter line. What's the matter?"

Hadrian sighed. "I love him Andi and you're right I want to have a family with him, but we didn't deliberately choose to have a baby. Neither of us knew it was even possible. I didn't know he was a wizard. Hell, even Tim didn't know. His parents refused to send him to a magical school so his magic was bound and all his memories of accidental magic obliviated. I told him yesterday that I was a wizard and he took that okay but when I told him I was pregnant he went out for a walk and hasn't come back" Hadrian said miserably.

"Maybe something else came up. He could have been called in to work. Have you tried to call him?" Andromeda asked.

"His phone's turned off. He wasn't on call this weekend" Hadrian replied.

-o0o-

They didn't talk much more, Hadrian could see how much it was tiring Andi to try to stay awake. He encouraged her to sleep and sat silently holding her hand. Andromeda passed peacefully about an hour later and Hadrian spent a few minutes grieving the older woman he'd come to like and respect before starting to shrink and pack up all Teddy's belongings. He cleared the downstairs area and moved up to the boy's room. He cast a mild sleeping charm suitable for children that Andromeda had taught him so Teddy wouldn't wake and cast stasis charms and shrinking charms on the rest of the furniture. Looking around he realised Teddy's room had recently been redecorated to suit his age and decided to check if his original things had been stored anywhere in case he wanted the familiarity of his older toys and things for a while in his new home.

Searching the house Hadrian found piles of neatly wrapped presents labelled for Teddy's birthday in a couple of months as well as some things for other people. He scooped up the things for Teddy and was touched to find presents for himself amongst the other pile. In the attic he found boxes of stuff labelled Teddy, Remus and, Nymphadora and shrunk them and the nursery furniture. He also collected all the books throughout the house and any Black family heirlooms.

He returned to the bedroom, reversed the sleeping charm and woke the little boy.

"Uncle Harry" Teddy said sleepily. "Nana said you were going to come. She said I'm gonna live with you now. Why am I gonna live with you? Is it coz Nana's sick?"

"Yes Teddy, your Nana was very sick. She's gone to heaven for your Mummy and Daddy to look after" Hadrian said gently.

"But she can't come and visit me from heaven" Teddy said starting to wail. "Why'd she go?"

Hadrian leant over and cuddled him. "Oh Teddy. She didn't have a choice. Her heart just wasn't working anymore. She stayed with you as long as she could. She didn't want to leave you but she knows I'll take good care of you" Hadrian said patiently knowing the little boy was tired and upset. "Come give me a hug while I pack your bed then we can go."

Teddy hugged his Uncle Harry sobbing and Hadrian gently rocked him until he calmed down and gave a sad little chuckle as Hadrian shrank the bed. "Now I know you've used a portkey before but this one is an international portkey it will last a long time so I'm going to give you a potion so you won't be sick and then strap you to me so you don't have to worry about not letting go" Hadrian explained.

"Okay Uncle Harry" Teddy said trustingly.

Harry activated the portkey and they spun across the world. Teddy looked green when they landed in spite of the potion, and being a metamorphmagus even his hair was bright lime green. Hadrian put him on his couch while he shrunk his own bedroom furniture and set up Teddy's, using magic to change the walls to match his room at Andromeda's. Once he had the room set up he carried the sleeping three-year-old in and tucked him into bed, transfiguring a book into an armchair to sleep in himself rather than leave Teddy alone. He cast a sleeping charm and notification ward in order to run down and check if Tim had returned. Finding the apartment still empty and his note undisturbed he retreated back upstairs sadly.

He cancelled the charms on Teddy and sat in the chair with rubber gloves and the laptop Tim had insisted he needed, checking out real estate agents. Given that he needed a house that was out of sight of the neighbours, and wanted something that wasn't too far to commute to the Navy Yard if Tim decided to move with them, his choices were limited. Fortunately though, his budget was not and with magic renovations would be quickly accomplished so the condition of the house wasn't an issue. He found a couple of places he'd like to look at and emailed a request for an inspection.

A/N: Thank you to Kourtney Uzu Yato, Locket1, Rori Potter, xDarklightx, charm13insomnia, buterflypuss, Village-Mystic, icyquest4, Bella216, Afrodity, Winged Dire Wolf7, Guest, julschristine975, Pikachu79, Jake Crepeau, Merlenyn, Firehedgehog, DS2010, bluestorm28, Guest, gabrieljuarezl, gaul1, Silvermane1, theShirker, Mcmllnchrstn91, MeraHunt, Minke, vickib78, Soul Tini, kathy stgqvk, TempesteSatanus, Slytherin Ice Princess of War, .1654, taintedxwings, guys-should-kiss-guys-more, Caci-Hime, sexyassassin666, NiCombust, Wojbie, Mirage92, darkangelkym, mykidmom, godcrusher123, 334, MrsMalik93, Cixon, EchoMGeier, DarkLoverofAnime, vilma, kimboik, ivetochka, ErisMalfoy1990 and Fandommember for your support.


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or NCIS or any of their characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do NOT give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

Hadrian slept fitfully and awoke early realising he didn't have any food in his apartment debated going down to raid Tim's fridge. He didn't want to take Teddy down there in case Tim arrived home so casting yet another sleeping charm and promising himself he wouldn't continue to do it or at least to research the safety of frequent use. He ducked down and liberated ingredients for breakfast, saddened and slightly worried to find the apartment empty with no evidence that Tim had returned at all since he'd left. Cursing himself for not thinking of it earlier Hadrian cast a notification charm on the doorway to let him know if someone entered.

He returned upstairs and started to cook bacon and eggs and pancakes as well as porridge wanting comfort foods for himself and Teddy this morning.

Teddy came out looking confused. "Uncle Harry?" He asked uncertainly.

"Morning Teddy" Hadrian said calmly. "How're you doing little man?"

"Where are we?" Teddy asked.

Hadrian looked around. The place certainly looked barely lived in, it wasn't warm or inviting. He hoped the little boy wasn't too distressed by the state of his new home. "This is my apartment. We'll be living here until I can buy a house. Don't worry though we're going to look for a house today. Somewhere with a yard for you to play in."

"I'm hungry" Teddy said.

"Breakfast is almost ready" Hadrian said smiling.

"Where's Tollie?" Teddy asked looking around.

Hadrian almost asked who Tollie was when the elf popped in.

"Master Teddy be calling Tollie?" She asked.

"Hello Tollie. Teddy will be living here until we find a new house to live in. Can you unpack the things he'll need for a few days?" Hadrian asked.

"Of course master Hadrian" the little elf nodded and scuttled off to do her job.

'I wonder where she was last night.' Hadrian thought.

Tollie came back quickly. "You'd should be letting me cooks Master Hadrian" she scolded.

Hadrian laughed and immediately surrendered the cooking. Anyone who thought house elves were slaves had clearly never met a well-trained nanny elf. "Where were you last night?" He asked carefully hoping he didn't upset the elf too much.

"Oh master Hadrian" the little elf wailed. "Missy Andi sent me to stay with my mother because the Mean Grangey was coming for the weekend." Evidently Hermione hadn't changed her opinion on house elves in spite of being told that freeing them harmed them.

"Hermione was there?" Hadrian exclaimed incredulously, "and she just left Teddy and Andi alone while Andi was so sick?"

"Aunt Hermonie?" Teddy called looking around.

"No she's not here Teddy. Did she visit you yesterday?" Hadrian asked though he knew the little boy probably wouldn't be able to answer. Then he remembered Andi telling him that Hermione had cancelled her visit at the last moment. The kind hearted old lady probably hadn't had the heart to ruin Tollie's visit with her mother.

Hadrian fed Teddy the potion to mask his metamorphmagus ability and bundled him up to go and meet the real estate agent he'd made an appointment with online last night. Teddy had never been in a car and Hadrian realised he didn't have the appropriate child restraint. He cast cushioning charms on the child and transfigured a car seat intending to get a proper one fitted that morning. As a thought he called Tollie and asked if she could accompany them invisibly to be able to give him an opinion on which houses were structurally sound and could be quickly and cheaply made liveable.

"Tollie can't do master Hadrian" she wailed. "Tollie not knows buildingses."

"Don't punish yourself. It's my fault for asking the wrong question. You're a nanny elf and you do your job superbly. Is there such a thing as a house elf who restores or builds houses?" Hadrian asked quickly.

"Oh yes Master Hadrian. The Potters most probably woulds has such an elfs" Tollie said pleased to be able to help her master with this information.

"Potter elves?" Hadrian questioned.

"The Potters are an ancient and wealthy family. They has lots of elfs" Tollie said wondering how her master didn't already know this.

"Could I call them just by asking for the Potter elves or do I need to know their names?" Hadrian asked.

"Yous can call all the elfses but yous need more space theys lots of elfses" Tollie said earnestly.

"Can you take Teddy into the other room for a minute and cast a silencing ward." He stood in the middle of the room, cast temporary space expansion charms than used his magic to call the Potter elves.

The noise of more than four hundred elves popping in was deafening and the room quickly became over crowded in spite of the expansion charms.

"Thank you all for coming so promptly. I have just found out about you all and I promise that I'll spend some time over the next week or two to meet you all and get to know what you do. Unfortunately, I'm in a bit of a rush at the moment because I have an appointment to look at houses to buy. I need the help of an elf experienced in house restoration and renovation" he said. "Any elf without this experience or who was in the middle of something that needs to be got back to may leave."

There was another thunderous popping as all but about forty elves returned to their previous tasks.

"So many" Hadrian said surprised. 'Hermione's going to kill me if she finds out about them' he thought in dread.

"You's have many properties Master Hadrian. Much of the Potter income comes from rents. Using elves to looks after saves on maintenance costs"

"But most of those properties are in the muggle world" Hadrian protested.

"We is able to work in the muggle world. Yous tenants sometimes wonders why things never breaks down or wears outs but they not really notice" the elf said.

"We'll okay then I'm looking at properties to purchase a home for Teddy and myself. It needs to be fairly private so the neighbours don't notice any accidental magic and I can ward it well to keep us safe but I don't know anything about building maintenance. I was wondering if one of you could come with me today and let me know which of the houses is structurally sound and able to be fixed up fairly quickly as I need to be moved in before my pregnancy starts to show" Hadrian explained.

"Wes can fixes any house, but somes be being easier than others" the elf replied. "I's Quincy and I's go with you today."

"Thank you Quincy. Do you want to come with us in the car or will you pop to each location when I call your name?" Hadrian asked.

"I'se never been in a car" Quincy said excitedly.

"We'll you're welcome to come with me now but we're meeting a muggle to look at houses so you mustn't be seen unless I can glamour you to look like a human child" Hadrian warned. Quincy nodded eagerly and Hadrian transfigured a booster seat for him before applying the glamour.

They met the real estate agent at the first property and Hadrian could see immediately that it wasn't suitable. The photographer had been careful with photo angles to hide the fact the 1/2 acre property was looked down on by the 5 storey apartment complex next door.

He turned his attention to the real estate agent, an expensively maintained woman in her early sixties who looked shocked at the casually dressed young man and two young children that had just got out of the new model top of the line SUV.

"Hi I'm Hadrian Black" he said holding out his hand. "And these are my godsons Teddy and Quincy."

"Pleased to meet you. I'm Helen Stuart" she said shaking his hand. "Hello Teddy, Quincy. Are you ready to see inside?" She asked turning back to Hadrian.

"No I don't want to waste your time. This is not what we're looking for" Hadrian replied slightly apologetically.

"It's really lovely inside" the real estate agent protested.

"I want more privacy than this" Hadrian said uncompromisingly.

"Okay then, the next property offers privacy but it has not been lived in for nearly five years. It will need quite a bit of work to bring it back to its former grandeur" Helen stated.

"I'd like to see it" Hadrian stated.

"Do you want to follow me or I could travel with you and tell you about the property if you're willing to bring me back here" Helen offered.

"I'd think we better follow you. I'm not sure how many properties we'll be able to see before Teddy's tolerance for house shopping runs out" Hadrian said smiling.

"Very well" Helen replied relieved not to be travelling with the two energetic looking preschoolers.

They arrived at the next property 5 acres surrounded by a high wall with a turn of the century manor, eight bedrooms but it looked to be very poor condition.

"They's been wards here" Quincy said as they drove in.

"Can you tell me anything about them?" Hadrian asked.

"They's old master Hadrian, almost faded away. They's standard protection wards" Quincy answered. "They's not been renewed in many years."

"Maybe the last owner was a squib. Could the wards be why the house has been empty for five years?" Hadrian asked.

"Likely's Master Hadrian. The wards to stop theifs would keep strangers from seeing house as theirs" Quincy agreed. "You'se will needs to get the goblins to takes down the wards and puts up new ones."

"I can put them up myself" Hadrian replied.

"The goblins wills do betters" Quincy argued before clapping his hands over his mouth in horror.

Hadrian laughed, "Don't worry Quincy you're allowed to have an opinion and you're probably right. I asked for your advice, I'm not going to get offended at you for giving it."

He interior was in slightly better condition than expected the polished wood floors while in desperate need of refinishing seemed solid and the wallpaper was peeling away from walls that seemed in decent condition underneath. The whole place was filthy and many of the glass panes in the old windows were cracked but the house itself had a warmth and charm that when cleaned up would make a lovely home. It was a lot bigger than Hadrian had intended to purchase but the price was fair for the value of the land and the commute to the navy yard might actually be slightly shorter than from Tim's apartment. Quincy let him know that the house was structurally sound internally though badly in need of repair.

"I like it. It's a little more than Teddy and I need but it will do nicely if none of the other houses meet our criteria" Hadrian stated. "Shall we move on."

The next house was neat and tidy, less than five years old, on a four acre block without any trees and seemed completely devoid of any personality. It's selling price was more than the old manor but not unreasonable. There was nothing concrete to object to but Hadrian couldn't see himself living there.

"It's a possibility but I liked the character of the old manor better. What else do you have to show us?"

Helen now with a better idea of what they were looking for crossed several houses off her list. "I'd like to show you two more thought they're both a little further from the city than this.

Hadrian frowned thoughtfully. If Tim didn't forgive him then being close to the city wouldn't matter. The thought made his heart ache.

"They're worth a look while Teddy is co-operating" he agreed.

The first was a lovely rustic looking cabin accessed by a dirt path. Hadrian couldn't imagine Tim ever being willing to drive his Porsche along such a road let alone twice a day. It was also a little small for the four of them. "No" Hadrian said. "This isn't right for us."

The last house was an old farmhouse set on twelve acres. The couple selling were a lovely old couple moving in with their daughter. The views were lovely and the house had charm but it also had a slight smell of rotting wood and Quincy hidden from Mrs Stuart and shook his head pointing out several problems. Hadrian headed back downstairs. The elderly couple looked disappointed to see him return so quickly and Helen also realised that something must have made him cut his inspection short. "I'm sorry" he said to the couple. "But I can't see myself living here. It needs a little too much structural work."

The old man looked guilty for a moment before turning away, his wife just continued to look disappointed. "Thank you for showing me your home. I'm sorry for having taken up your time" Hadrian said to her.

"Oh it's no trouble young man you should stay for a cup of tea before you go. It's nice to have some company" she said trying to smile.

"I'm afraid I have to go. I'm meeting another client" Helen said apologetically. The farmer's wife's face fell.

"I'd like a cuppa" Hadrian agreed. "I just have some business to finish with Helen first. May I walk you out?" he asked.

"I'd like to purchase the Briarwood drive property" he said as they were out of earshot of the elderly lady.

"I'm surprised; it needs more work than this one" Helen replied.

"No it won't, there's a slight smell of dry rot throughout the downstairs and back rooms here. And I wouldn't be surprised if they had a termite problem as well from the feel of the stair treads and the plumbing and wiring haven't been updated since the turn of the century" Hadrian said repeating some of the information Quincy had been able to give him. "The old manor is structurally sound it just needs cleaning and renovating. I can do that but this farmhouse is beyond my skills."

"Okay so what would you like to offer for the Briarwood property?" Helen asked. 

"I need a place as soon as possible. So the full asking price in return for an immediate settlement. I'll stop by your office this afternoon with the money" Hadrian said.

"It will take 5 working days for a check to clear, even a bank cheque" Helen warned.

"Can you set up the settlement for Friday then?" Hadrian asked. "I'll get my lawyer to contact you with a time."

"That sounds fine Hadrian. I'll see you on Friday."

"Well the old manor will be ours on Friday" Hadrian said to Quincy.

"I cans gets started fixing?" Quincy asked.

"Yes but it's a muggle neighbourhood so you mustn't be seen, and it would be better if you fix the things that can't be seen from a casual walk through first and save any visual changes until the house is legally ours. We can't put wards up until Friday" Hadrian replied.

"We starts inside and uses glamours to hide works" Quincy promised. "the Muggleses not notice."

-o0o-

Hadrian returned home after a slightly awkward cup of tea with the owners of the farmhouse and Tollie had lunch waiting for them. Teddy ate well, but Hadrian pushed the food around his plate with little appetite.

"Is the lunch not good Master Hadrian?" Tollie asked.

"Lunch is fine Tollie. I'm just not very hungry" Hadrian replied.

"But Master must eat, or the baby not grow healthy and strong" Tollie said.

"Yes Tollie I will try" Hadrian said picking his fork back up.

-o0o-

Hadrian was able to keep Teddy distracted from his loss with new sights and experiences all morning and Teddy was fine with being with his uncle Harry until Hadrian tried to put him down for his afternoon nap when her started to cry for his grandmother.

"Oh Teddy! Grandma has gone to heaven to be with your Mummy and Daddy" Hadrian said picking him up and rocking him.

"I want Grandma" the little boy wailed.

"I know you do my darling boy, and I know she didn't want to leave you, but the pain in her heart just got too bad and she couldn't stay with us any longer. She's in heaven but she still loves you very much and Harry and Tollie are going to take good care of you" Hadrian said trying to keep calm himself.

Tollie popped in without being called. "Master Teddy bes overtired" she said. "You want Tollie to bring sleeping draft?"

"I really don't want to get in the habit of potioning or magicking him to sleep, he needs to be able to put himself to sleep, perhaps if you have a children's calming draught?" Hadrian replied.

Tollie popped away and returned with the calming draught and a bottle of milk. "Sleeping potions tastes better" she said. "Master Teddy's won't like."

"I know but if I put him to sleep without a calming draught while he's this upset he'll have nightmares" Hadrian replied.

Tollie was right that Teddy fought taking the potion but settled once Hadrian performed the mouth cleaning spell and offered him a bottle though he was really too old for one. He gently rocked him to sleep and lay him down casting monitoring spells so he would know the instant the child started to wake or become upset.

-o0o-

Hadrian bundled Teddy up and apparated them both to the magical shopping centre. He wanted to stay home and wait for Tim to come home even though the monitoring charms would let him know the minute Tim entered his apartment but he needed to find a supplier for Teddy's metamorphmagus suppression potion. He was slightly worried that the potion was rare enough that anyone who knew that he had taken custody of Teddy could use his purchase of it to find them but it was beyond his brewing abilities to make it himself even if he did have a potions lab which he wouldn't until the house was finished. He set up a regular order to be delivered after the supplier swore an oath he wouldn't give out any information about Teddy or himself. 

Hadrian also took the opportunity to stock up on other potions, sweets, and the few other things that he used from the magical world so he wouldn't have to come back for a while and replaced his magically hardened phone which had started to show signs that the magic was starting to affect it. He also bought a variety of muggle looking children's hats and sunglasses with parentally activated sticking charms so the child couldn't remove them. 

Although it upset him to contemplate the idea, Hadrian also made arrangements through the goblins to purchase a share if Tim's apartment complex so he could ward it to protect Tim if he chose not to move in with them.

-o0o-

Gibbs picked Tim up from the hospital after a two day admission. He wanted to take Tim straight back to his house so he could look after him until Tim could use his arm again. Ducky had also offered his assistance though suggested that Gibbs might be the better offer as his mother's behaviour could be somewhat erratic.

Tim had insisted that he needed to go to his own flat and Gibbs reluctantly agreed after Tim had refused to leave the hospital with him and tried to call himself a taxi unless he agreed to take him home.

They arrived back at the apartment and Gibbs helped Tim up the stairs. As they entered the living room Tim noticed that Hadrian's coat is missing from the coat rack, anxiously he checked the bedroom and found that all of Hadrian's clothes have been removed.

Tim rushed out of the bedroom towards the door intending to go and find Hadrian.

Gibbs jumped up and refused to let him leave the apartment. "Where do you think you're going?" he asked amused.

"Please I've got to go and see someone, let them know I'm okay." Tim begged.

"Why don't you just call them?" Gibbs asked patiently.

"I can't the number was in my phone, I don't remember it" Tim explained. Tim's phone had taken the brunt of the bullet that injured Tim and while it had resulted in a few extra minor shrapnel wounds the phone had deflected the bullet away from the bone and vital arteries.

"I could call and ask DiNozzo or Abby to find it out" Gibbs offered.

"Oh Hell No! I'd never hear the end of it": Tim exclaimed. "Please Boss, it's just upstairs"

"Tim you couldn't even get up here without my help, I'm not about to let you go running off on your own. Tell me which apartment and I'll go up and ask them to come down" Gibbs said firmly.

Tim looks even more alarmed "No it's fine I can do this" Tim argued.

"I'm not leaving you here alone. I'll pack a bag for you and you can come home with me for a few days" Gibbs said moving towards the bedroom taking in the clearly half empty wardrobe with the door hanging open. Clearly Tim expected something to be in there. Gibbs had several experiences of coming home to empty wardrobes when a wife or girlfriend had walked out on him but he thought it was particularly harsh for her to have left while Tim was in the hospital.

"No I'll be fine. I can't go I need to be here" Tim said desperately. "I need to go upstairs and speak to them."

"Tim, what's going on? Trust me I want to help" Gibbs asked gently.

"I'm fine, I need to go upstairs" Tim repeated urgently.

"Tim you look ready to pass out, there's no way I'm going to let you walk up those stairs" Gibbs said firmly, his hand was itching to slap some sense into the back of the junior agent's head.

Tim took a deep breath seeing no other choice but to trust his boss. "Okay" he said reluctantly, "Hades lives in apartment 4B. Can you explain that I've been in the hospital and that I couldn't call because my phone was broken and that I need to talk to him? If that's not enough to get him to come down and talk to me will you tell him 'I'm sorry'?"

Gibbs nodded and left without saying anything knowing that Tim wouldn't calm down until he'd spoken with this Hades. It must be important if Tim was prepared to ask Gibbs to break Rule 6.

A/N: Thank you to Kourtney Uzu Yato, charm13insomnia, Bella216, Firehedgehog, xDarklightx, Almonda, geetac, icyquest4, buterflypuss, lgbtlovechick, julschristine975, Rori Potter, Magouille, Village-Mystic, Merlenyn, Silvermane1, DS2010, gabrieljuarezl, acherongoddess, lilly-flower15, Red05, dadysprinces1994, Luluca Amekaze, Guest, aoin88, deannamd, Bewitchedfan2, IchigoRenji, stayblue, sm1982, Dreamwind1, Darling De Piaget, SanctumSyte, VampireGrimmjow, Metautske, ladyvol11, Hater777, demarra, Aelirenn, animefangirl0219, helenanevada, ioname2you, Tinkerbell-69-4ever, Mos2598, lapoulpe123, mooncalled11, darkwaterstorm, kiku127, algrover, Ivys Poison, Camieko, hatchi cullen-black and trientalis77 for your support.


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or NCIS or any of their characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do NOT give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you feel the need to share my work post a link.

Hadrian was on his way to the door when Gibbs knocked. He'd cast monitoring charms on Teddy and called Tollie to keep an eye on the little boy as soon as his wards had let him know that two people had entered Tim's apartment and one of them had just left. He hoped that Tim had come up to see him but wondered if that were the case who the person left in his apartment could be. He was grateful that he'd removed all his things in case it was one of Tim's team.

Hadrian paled recognising Tim's boss at the door.

Gibbs didn't know quite what he expected but this scrawny frightened looking teenage boy was certainly not it. Without the act of attitude and arrogance Hadrian had portrayed as Lord Evander he looked nothing like the Auror Gibbs had met and Gibbs didn't recognise him. "I'm looking for Timothy McGee's friend Hades?" he asks expecting the boy to call out for his sister or god forbid mother 'That would explain why he's wanting to keep it from Tony if he's dating a woman old enough to be this boy's mother' thought Gibbs.

"I'm Hadrian, Agent Gibbs. Tim usually shortens it to Hades" The boy said quietly further surprising Gibbs. "What's happened? Is Tim...?" Hadrian was now dangerously pale and beginning to sway as he clenched his hands on the door frame trying to hold himself upright.

Gibbs grabbed the boy and led him into the empty apartment noticing the full packing boxes and lack of any personal touches in the room. He sat him on the couch and sitting close said "McGee is going to be okay" he reassured "He was injured at work on Sunday and his phone was destroyed. He was discharged from hospital this morning. I've just brought him home to get some stuff because he isn't able to live alone for the next couple of weeks and he asked me to come up and let you know he needs to talk to you. He said to tell you that he has tried to call but his phone was destroyed and he couldn't remember your cell number"

"Is he really OK? What happened?" The young man asked anxiously.

"He was shot in the right arm and there were some shrapnel wounds from the bullet having gone through his phone first, he'll be in a sling for a few weeks but there was no major bone or nerve damage so the doctors expect it should heal fully."

Hadrian nodded distractedly. "I need to see him" he said.

"I'm sure he'll be glad for you to visit" Gibbs replied.

Hadrian visibly pulled himself together. "I'll just grab my jacket and turn off the stove, please tell Tim I'll be down in a minute" he said walking Gibbs to the door.

The investigator in Gibbs noted that there was no sound or smell of cooking in the apartment. The boy was lying about something. He stood outside the now closed door and listened. He heard the boy talking urgently though he was sure there hadn't been anyone else in the apartment.

Gibbs shook his head and walked very slowly down the stairs to give Tim time to complete his call in private assuming that that was who the boy had called. It seemed for some reason neither wanted to talk in front of him. Gibbs had his suspicions why.

-o0o-

"Tim, are you ok?" Hadrian asked anxiously as soon as Tim answered the phone. "Gibbs said you were hurt. Are you going to be okay? What's going on? Does Gibbs know about us? Are you in trouble?" Hadrian was so upset about his boyfriend's injury that he temporarily forgot about Tim storming out during their discussion a few days ago.

"I'm fine Hades" said Tim sighing in relief to hear his boyfriend's voice. "Gibbs is just being over-protective and wouldn't let me walk up to see you. He thinks I live alone and wants me to go and stay with him for a few days until I can cope on my own. I just couldn't leave without talking to you so I had to ask him to go up and ask you to come down seeing he wouldn't let me try and come up there. I don't know if he knows we're together. I love you Hades. I'm sorry I walked out. I never meant to be gone more than an hour or two. I love you and I want to be together no matter what. Please say you'll give me another chance to work this out."

"I love you Tim, we'll talk later I've got more stuff I have to tell you but I want to be with you too" Hadrian replied sniffling.

"Gibbs will be back soon. What should I tell him?" Tim asked.

"I need to see you, I'm coming down. I'd be happy to look after you if you want me to but I'll understand if you think you need to stay with Gibbs" Hadrian said sadly. It was times like this that the Navy policy of Don't Ask, Don't Tell really sucked.

"Come down and offer to look after me and we'll see how he reacts before I decide. But you're right I should go with him if he hasn't already realised that we are together" Tim said resignedly. "He's pretty observant though and I wasn't exactly subtle about needing to come upstairs and talk to you."

"Will you be in trouble if he does know?" Hadrian asked anxiously. He knew Tim loved his job and he didn't want to be the reason it was in jeopardy.

"According to the strict rules I didn't tell him so I shouldn't be" Tim reassured him. "Besides we've already shown him I can keep it out of the workplace and not let it interfere with doing the job."

Gibbs walks in and smiles to himself to see Tim on the phone confirming his suspicions that Hadrian had rung Tim the moment he left the upstairs apartment needing their initial discussion to take place without an audience.

Tim hung up as soon as he saw Gibbs in the doorway and looks at him enquiringly.

"He said he'd be down in a moment" Gibbs said in response.

"Thanks Boss" said Tim smiling for the first time since having been injured.

"Don't Ask Don't Tell?" asked Gibbs quietly.

"Yeah Boss" Tim sighed looking at his feet afraid to look and see Gibbs reaction.

Gibbs sighed "There's one question I have to ask though Tim. How old is he because I know you wouldn't get involved with a kid so he must be older than he looks?"

"I'm 24" Hadrian lied, having silently let himself in.

Gibbs turned around surprised at both the boy's sudden appearance and his answer. He looked at the young man searchingly but Hadrian's occlumency allowed him to be one of the few people to ever lie successfully to the older agent and the mannerisms of a war veteran made Gibbs believe him in spite of Hadrian's youthful face. "Okay! I take it you'll be staying here to look after Tim for the next few days then?" Gibbs asked the young man.

Hadrian nodded "Yeah I'm happy to do it". He crossed over to the couch Tim was sitting on and carefully examined his boyfriend. "You look exhausted. You should go lie down and get some sleep" he said gently.

"Yeah OK" He looked awkwardly at Gibbs then turned to Hadrian "Can you help me to change"

"Sure" Hadrian agreed carefully helping Tim up from the couch.

The two men leave the room and Gibbs goes into the kitchen to make himself a cup of coffee not wanting to eavesdrop on their conversation.

As soon as they were in the bedroom Hadrian turned to kiss Tim. He kept the kiss gentle in respect of Tim's injuries but it was still full of love and passion. Tim kissed back grateful to have this chance to reconnect.

Hadrian quietly offered to banish the shirt rather than risk hurting Tim removing it the conventional way. Tim nods and with a quick wave of his wand the shirt is gone. He unbuckles Tim's belt by hand and unbuttons his trousers. Tim sits on the side of the bed to allow Hadrian to remove his shoes and socks and free him from the trousers. "What pain relief have you had?" Hadrian asked seeing the amount of pain in Tim's expression.

"Just Paracetamol and Ibuprofen " Tim replied.

Hadrian looked up at him ready to protest.

"Pain meds make me goofy. I wanted a clear head to talk with you" Tim explained. "I've stronger stuff to take after we've talked."

"Drink these" Hadrian said pulling two small glass vials from his pocket.

"What are they?" Tim asked.

"Potions, one for pain and the other to speed up the healing" Hadrian replied. "They taste beyond disgusting but they'll work better than anything mundane medicine can do and they shouldn't make you 'goofy' though you'll be a bit drowsy and want to sleep for a while. The healer said they'd work on you even with your magic bound and they shouldn't affect your thinking. It's best to throw them back as quick as you can."

Tim trustingly chugged both potions. "Ugh I don't think I've ever tasted anything so awful" he said pulling a face.

"But you're already starting to feel better" Hadrian said smiling.

"Yes" Tim said surprised.

"Get some sleep. I'll be here when you wake up" Hadrian said reassuringly.

"But…" Tim began.

"We can't talk about it now. Gibbs is still here and we mustn't let him find out about magic" Hadrian reminded him. "If he overheard us I'd be forced to wipe his memory of the conversation and I don't want to do that to one of your co-workers. We'll talk when he's gone I promise. It's enough for me that you're going to be okay and that you want to sort things out. I've had a terrible three days imagining the worst. I figured you just didn't want to talk to me but it didn't make sense that you didn't come home or ring and ask me to leave. I almost rang you at the navy yard this morning just to check you were okay."  
"I'm glad you didn't. It wouldn't have helped. If Tony or Ziva answered they wouldn't have told you where I was anyway" Tim said tiredly.  
"I figured that" Hadrian replied. "That's why I didn't call." He didn't mention that he'd planned to station himself outside the Navy Yard that afternoon, under a disillusionment charm until he saw Tim come out safely. 

-o0o-

Tim fell asleep and Hadrian knowing Gibbs was still sitting in the kitchen got up and went to face the interrogation.

"Coffee?" he offered having heard Tim talk about the man's addiction.

"Please" Gibbs said watching him closely. The young man was evidently comfortable in McGee's kitchen.

"I'm starving, would you like to stay for lunch?" Hadrian asked. Pulling stir fry ingredients out of the fridge.

"You're making awfully free with McGee's food" Gibbs commented.

"I bought most of this food. Tim is more of a plain cook" Hadrian replied. "The coffee is his but I'm sure he wouldn't mind me offering his boss a cup."

"Your apartment is all packed up. It doesn't look like you're living here or there" Gibbs observed.

"I've mostly been living here and storing things up in my apartment because there isn't enough space here. My lease is up at the end of the month and I'm looking at buying a house so Tim and I can move in together properly" Hadrian said.

"You can afford a house or you're expecting McGee to pay for it?" Gibbs asked offensively.

"I can afford it" Hadrian said refusing to be baited. "I don't really like renting, it will be nice to have the security of a place of my own again." Gibbs had to agree with that idea. He was a great believer in the security of owning your own home.

"How did you meet McGee?" Gibbs asked.

"I met Tim a couple of years ago on a flight from England, I was moving here to work and Tim was coming back from a book tour" Hadrian said smiling. "We got talking and became friends. He introduced me to the building super and helped organise me renting an apartment here and we slowly became closer."

"McGee wasn't gay" Gibbs said.

"He still isn't" Hadrian replied amused. "But I'm not the first man he's been in a relationship with though he keeps it quiet, from what Tim has said the Navy Yard isn't the place to be openly anything but heterosexual."

"And are you openly 'not heterosexual'?" Gibbs demanded.

"My boss knows I'm gay, my colleagues know about Tim he's even met a few of them. I'm serious about this relationship Agent Gibbs. And so is Tim, you and the team may not know about me but Tim's other friends do" Hadrian replied calmly.

"You've obviously been worried about him. Why didn't you ring and check he was okay?"

"I've been ringing his phone but you're well aware why that didn't work. He doesn't want the team to know about me so I was respecting his wishes. I'm used to him being gone for days though usually he rings me daily we did have an argument before he left so I thought he just wasn't ready to speak to me. I was trying to give him space" Hadrian answered.

"What did you fight about?" Gibbs asked frowning.

"With all respect Sir that's between Tim and I. We'll discuss it when he's feeling a little better" Hadrian replied.

Gibbs glared at the younger man dating his agent but it had little effect. He secretly had to admit he was impressed with the young man's courage to stand up to him.

"It must have been one hell of a fight for you to pack up and take all your clothes" Gibbs commented.

"Hmm" Hadrian agreed busying himself with the meal preparation, refusing to say any more about it.

"Tim was dating a redhead a couple of months ago…" Gibbs began.

"He wasn't dating Rochelle" Hadrian refuted calmly. "She just did him a favour and rescued him from one of Abby's nights out."

"Rescued? Abby's nights out are that bad?" Gibbs asked surprised. "She's his best friend."

"Haven't you heard Tim try to get out of going out clubbing or to concerts with her? I'm sure you would have heard the music Tim said she plays in her lab. Would you want to go to a club that played music like that at ear-damaging decibels all night?" Hadrian asked. "Not to mention that Abby isn't your typical goth. The others all look down on people who dress like normal people. Tim doesn't exactly fit in with her friends" Hadrian was careful to keep his criticisms away from Abby herself.

"If it's that bad why'd Tim agree to go?" Gibbs asked concerned.

"Honestly? You don't know why everyone on your team bends over backwards to avoid upsetting Abby?" Hadrian asked disbelievingly.

"She's Tim's best friend" Gibbs repeated.

"No she's not. Tim's just Abby's favourite chew toy" Hadrian argued as he dished up the food and handed a plate to Gibbs.

"This is good" Gibbs said surprised after tasting it.

"Thanks, no need to sound so surprised" Hadrian grumbled.

"There's more vegetables on my plate than I'd normally eat in a week" Gibbs admitted.

Hadrian laughed. "You just need to learn better ways of cooking them. I'm not a fan of plain boiled veg either" he said.

"You didn't say what you did for a living?" Gibbs asked slyly.

"No I didn't. I do some consulting for the FBI, Homeland and the NSA but most of what I do is classified Agent Gibbs" Hadrian replied, hoping it wouldn't be enough to make him recognise him. It wasn't and Gibbs respected that Hades wasn't going to tell him more.

Gibbs finished his meal. "Thanks for the food. I'll send ducky over tomorrow to check on Tim" he said making his way towards the door.

"I promise you that Tim won't require the services of a medical examiner. I plan to keep him alive" Hadrian said amused.

Gibbs snorted in amusement. "Ducky also looks after the team injuries and medical needs. It's better than wasting hours sitting in some GP clinic surrounded by people couching up god knows what illnesses at you."

"Okay then I'll expect him tomorrow, though I am capable of looking after his wound" Hadrian agreed.

Just before Gibbs left, the answering machine took a call and Hadrian heard his mother ask if Tim was all right and telling him that they were on their way to see him.

"Have you met the in-laws?" Gibbs asked.

"No and I don't think tonight would be a good night for it either" Hadrian said sighing. "Tim hasn't spoken to his father in a long time and emotions are likely going to run high."

Gibbs left and Hadrian cleaned up before casting a charm to alert him when Tim woke up before returning upstairs to Teddy.

"I really need to tell them about each other" he said to himself. "I can't keep spelling one or the other to sleep while I look after the other."

-o0o-

Tim woke up feeling much better. He was about to get up and go looking for Hades when he noticed a note on the table beside the bed.

Tim,

Your director must have informed your family that you were injured. Your parents are on their way and their flight gets in at five. There's a chicken casserole in the slow cooker which will be ready about seven and the fresh bread in the bread-maker should be ready then too.

I'll be upstairs. Call me when they leave for the night.

H.

Tim sighed as he read that his parents were coming. He loved his mother and it would be good to see her. Good to see his father too if he'd keep his opinions about Tim's job to himself. However, he felt uneasy about the situation between he and Hades and really wanted to talk to him before he had to face anyone else. He picked up the phone and rang Hades.

"Hadrian Black" Hadrian answered.

"Hey I got your note" Tim said.

"Yeah I figured you wouldn't want to introduce me to your family until we got things sorted out so I made myself scarce. Particularly after what you've said about your father. I didn't expect you to wake up so soon. Did you need any help before they get here?" Hadrian asked.

Tim sighed. "You did the right thing. My father and I haven't got along very well since I refused to join the Navy. He and I haven't spoken in several years. He is also known for campaigning against the presence of women or homosexual men on Navy vessels so I don't think he'll be too accepting of our relationship. I've only ever told them about girlfriends in the past."

"I understand Tim. I don't have a family but most of my friends back in England wouldn't accept our relationship either and now isn't the time to bring up the issue with them until we've sorted things out ourselves" Hadrian replied. "Call me and I'll come down as soon as they leave. Even if you're too tired to talk I want to see that you're okay. The last couple of days have been hell."

"Okay. I love you Hades" Tim said.

"I love you Tim"

"We still have an hour before my parents get here" Tim suggested.

"And you're going to need all your energy to deal with them" Hadrian reminded him. "Are you happy to entertain your parents in your pyjamas or do you want me to come down and help you get dressed."

Tim looked down at his bare chest. "Please help me put a shirt on" he said.

"I can do better than that" Hadrian said.

After helping Tim into a loose pyjama top and transfiguring Tim's pyjamas into something his father would find more suitable Hadrian had flown around the unit checking he'd removed his belongings and put away anything of Tim's that indicated a second person normally lived in the flat before the Admiral could arrive. Luckily all his stress relief cleaning and packing up when he wasn't sure Tim wanted him to stay was an advantage now, everything was perfectly clean and tidy. He kissed Tim quickly and left only minutes before Admiral McGee and his wife arrived.

"Why are you here?" Tim asked surprised to see his father turn up in full dress whites.

"SecNav said you were shot" Admiral Thomas McGee stated.

"Yeah, four days ago" Tim replied unimpressed. "I've been hurt worse than this before. You've never come to check on me."

"I've only just heard about it. Why didn't you at least inform your mother? And how does a computer analyst manage to get themselves shot?" Admiral McGee huffed angry at being questioned like that.

"I'm a field agent Dad" Tim said for what must have been the tenth time since he'd joined NCIS. Like the last nine or more times his father ignored him.

"Are you okay? Will it heal without any permanent damage?" Heather McGee asked.

"The surgeon couldn't promise 100% return of function but he thinks it should be enough to pass my physical to get back into the field" Tim replied.

"Are you sure you want to back out in the field if it's so dangerous?" Heather asked.

"It's what I do Mom" Tim said firmly.

"What exactly do you do that you could get shot?" Heather said worriedly. "I thought you were safe investigating computer crime. Didn't they promote you for your computer expertise?"

"I do spend a lot of time doing computer searches and breaking encryptions to get data off suspects' computers or to check a suspect's communications and financial details but I'm on the MCRT, NCIS's top team, we investigate murders and serious crimes. Often I'm out investigating crime scenes or interviewing witnesses but sometimes I am needed to help arrest or take down a suspect. Don't worry most days the most dangerous thing I do is get in the car while Ziva or Gibbs are driving." Tim tried to reassure his mother, who didn't get the joke.

"So will the person who shot you be charged? When will the trial be?" Thomas asked.

"No" Tim replied calmly.

"Why not? He shot you. Even if he hadn't meant to hit you it's assaulting a federal agent" his mother protested.

"You can't charge a dead man" Tim said bluntly.

"Someone killed him?" Heather said shocked.

"That's what tends to happen when someone stands in the open and shoots at a federal agent Mom" Tim said gently.

"Who killed him?" Thomas asked.

"I don't know" Tim replied. "I've been in the hospital so I haven't kept up with the investigation, but Gibbs, Tony and I all hit him so we have to wait for the autopsy and ballistics results to see who made the kill shot."

"You seem awfully calm about possibly having killed a man" Thomas said surprised. For all his lifetime career in the navy he'd never been responsible for firing the weapons or giving the orders that resulted in a man's death.

"It was a good shoot. Whoever killed him, saved my life, and Tony's too. They'll be cleared of any wrongdoing and allowed back in the field by now" Tim replied.

"It's never that easy to take a life Tim" the Admiral said finally concerned about something.

"I know that but he wasn't the first, and he won't be the last. Don't worry Dad I can deal. I have friends that will help if I need to talk it out."

There was an awkward silence before Tim's mother noticed the smell of cooking and baking bread. "Someone's been looking after you" she commented questioningly.

"A friend and neighbour made them" Tim replied smiling at his mom.

"Is she nice?" Heather McGee asked making Tim blush is what she thought was embarrassment over a girl he liked but Tim knew was discomfort at lying to his mother.

"They're no doubt taking advantage of your injury to show you how well they could look after you. Don't get taken in by them Tim" the Admiral warned.

"I'm sure their only motive was to help me out. I'm not an Admiral, so there's not a lot of women jockeying to become the next Mrs McGee. What I do doesn't attract a lot of women, and those it does attract tend to be a little bit crazy" Tim replied not sure whether to be insulted that his father thought him that naive.

"That ridiculous car of yours gives the impression that you have more money than you do" Thomas replied.

"Well if my car's responsible for the amazing cooking I've been getting lately I'll drive it til I'm eighty" Tim said trying to avoid losing his temper with his father.

"It does smell amazing" Heather agreed.

"There's more than enough for three. Are you staying for dinner?" Tim invited.

"No I have an official dinner to go to" Thomas said checking his watch. "We must go" he said to his wife.

"You look really nice Mom" Tim said boosting her confidence.

"Thanks Tim, you look good too, other than looking ill of course. You've been working out" Heather replied gratefully.

"And eating a lot more home cooked meals" Tim couldn't resist one more dig at his father.

"I'd like to meet this friend" Heather said softly.

"Really Mom? Even if it's someone I know Dad would disapprove of?" Tim asked equally quietly.

"Would he?" Heather asked concerned.

"Not everybody Dad disapproves of is a bad person, Mom" Tim replied.

"Your father's a very astute man, Tim" Heather replied sternly.

"My father is also very narrow minded" Tim argued.

"I've got to go. He'll be angry if I make him late" Heather said worriedly.

"Blame me" Tim told her giving her a one-armed hug. "Have a good night. I'll call you in a couple of days."

"I'd rather stay home with you" Heather said sighing. "But it wouldn't look good for your father if I wasn't there."

"Just like it wouldn't have looked good if he couldn't say he'd seen me and I'm alright after he'd been told of the shooting?" Tim said cynically. He went back in and shut the door before his mom could reply. He was on his new cell phone before he reached the bed. "I need you" was all he said.

A/N: Thank you to icyquest4, lgbtlovechick, charm13insomnia, julschristine975, Luluca Amekaze, eyann85, Kourtney Uzu Yato, Guest, xDarklightx, gabrieljuarezl, LuckyNumber1, Firehedgehog, dadysprinces1994, DS2010, lilly-flower15, Dreamwind1, Rori Potter, Afrodity, Syret, avidereader101, acherongoddess, Merlenyn, buterflypuss, aoin88, Almonda, Silvermane1, Locket1, Village-Mystic, A Random Bowser, Fandommember, Vladimir Mithrander, Maben00, Magouille, KalShadal, Blackest of the Soul, DaemonWolfe, lotje01, Not A Muggle, artie em, salahidden, Aiko819, ANGEL-BABY9868, PotterAvenged, Tom Tardis, FlameArrow18, Encrypted Silence **,** Sandringham, mdclj4331, dnjs7365, MookFree07, Heaven Cross, Photon Stars, Noomii, kikawd, birdkids55, charms92, rosiegirl1666, Saishi55, DarlingAbyss, Mijakicalnight, catspaw439, anndvos, 96flowers, punkrockwriter13, Rike1Rike2, ProfFrankly and clinekorky7 for your support.


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

Reposted to correct a mistaken word, nothing else added.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or NCIS or any of their characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do NOT give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

A/N: I think I've messed up Teddy, he's supposed to be three but sometimes he seems too mature. Unfortunately it will take a long delay to fix it so I have left it as is. I will try to do better in future but it's ten years since my youngest was that age so it's difficult.

-o0o-

Hadrian came down a few minutes later and saw Tim on the bed. "I'm not ready to talk" Tim said flatly. "I just…wanted you here with me."

Hadrian could tell he was physically and emotionally exhausted after seeing his parents. He nodded and reversed the transfiguration on his pyjamas. "Do you think you could eat?" he asked.

Tim shook his head. "I'm sorry, I know I should and you went to all that trouble and it smells so good" he mumbled apologetically.

"Don't worry about it. It will keep" Hadrian said smiling. He helped Tim settle in bed then went into the kitchen. Tim could hear him moving around putting things into containers in the refrigerator.

Hadrian came and climbed into bed sitting on his good side hugging him gently without saying anything, giving him silent comfort until he fell asleep and taking comfort from his presence. They both knew that there was a lot still to be said, to be sorted out between them but they also knew that they were going to be able to find a way though it all. That they still loved each other and beyond all their recent actions they wanted to be together long term. Hadrian dozed off himself knowing that Tollie was up in his apartment looking after Teddy.

-o0o-

The next morning Hadrian woke early while Tim was sleeping and went up to play with Teddy for a while until the monitoring charms told him Tim was waking up. He left Teddy with Tollie while he went downstairs intending to help Tim shower though his shoulder really was almost better and cook breakfast for the two of them.

Tim was wide awake and sitting up by the time he arrived and took Hadrian's hands with his good one pulling him down to sit on the bed beside him.

"Okay I'm ready to finish our discussion" Tim said. "I got upset the other day thinking you'd deliberately got pregnant but when I had time to think it just didn't seem like something you would do. Can you explain what happened? How's the baby, you didn't..." Tim couldn't even complete the question. He looked at Hadrian begging him to say that the baby was okay. Over the last three days he'd realised that there was nothing he'd ever wanted more than to be a family with Hades and the baby.

"The healer said the baby's fine. Didn't what?" Hadrian asked confused for a moment. He turned and stared at Tim in horror. "You thought I could murder our baby?" He whispered horrified.

"It wouldn't be murder. Lots of women wouldn't think twice about getting rid of an unwanted pregnancy. particularly if they and the baby's father were no longer together."

"I wouldn't do that even if you never wanted to see me again" Hadrian replied. "I've wanted a family for as long as I could remember. Besides things are a bit different with witches and wizards, the baby's sharing my magic. I couldn't abort it without permanently damaging my magical core. There's no healer on earth that will do that and I can't exactly go out and get a muggle abortion" Hadrian said. "I'm only telling you this so you won't think I lied about wanting the baby if you ever hear it from someone else. I never even considered not keeping our baby."

"I'm sorry for thinking that you didn't want our baby, and for making you think that I didn't want you and the baby" Tim said laying his hand tentatively over Hadrian's lower stomach. Hadrian laid his hand over Tim's and they cuddled for a while taking comfort from each other before resuming the difficult conversation.

Hadrian sighed "You walked out in the middle of my explanation the other day."

Tim started to protest but Hadrian stopped him. "I know it's my fault. I should have found a better way to explain it. I would have got angry too if I thought you'd got pregnant on purpose."

"I would have been back in a couple of hours if I hadn't been called to the crime scene" Tim replied. "I'm ready to listen now. Please try to explain what happened."

"The spell to enable a wizard to have children that I was trying to tell you about was cast on me without my permission during an attack before I left England. It is permanent and I knew about the effects but I was told it took a wizards magic to impregnate me not just their sperm so I didn't even think about it when we were together" he tried to explain.

"Cast on you without your permission?" Tim asked. "You mean you wouldn't have wanted this spell cast? You didn't want to be able to have children?"

"No. Not in those circumstances. It had nothing to do with wanting children. It was cast on me from behind my back as I walked home after a night out with friends. I guess I'm lucky that whoever it was didn't want to kill me because they easily could have. I didn't even know the spell existed before I went to the hospital after the attack. The healers were able to identify who cast it but he would've been paid to do it and they can't find him to ask who paid him."

"You were attacked? Why would anyone do that? And why didn't you tell me we needed to use precautions? I would have been happy to" Tim asked having got lost in thought during Hadrian's explanation.

"Without knowing who attacked me it's hard to know exactly why. There were a lot of pureblood wizards and witches angry with me for killing their lord and winning the war so there've been several minor attacks since then. Also I'm the heir to several family names and many of the old families practice strict primogeniture so if I can't father a son there are a couple of people that would be in line to inherit the bulk of my father and my godfather's estates and they're all so homophobic that it wouldn't occur to them I would even try to bear a child myself and you have to remember that I was still engaged to a girl at the time. I had a suspicion that I might have been bisexual but I'd never dated anyone but girls. My former fiancé also seemed quite pleased when I told her I could no longer impregnate her though I didn't seriously think at the time that she could be involved but that was before I found out she'd been lying to me and feeding me love potions. Or the wizard who cast it just could have been trying to cast the most painful spell he knew. It certainly nearly brought me to my knees, there are specific torture curses that don't hurt that much. The healer said they normally knock the patient out for three days while the spell takes effect. And as to telling you we needed to use birth control precautions I didn't think we needed to. I was told it takes the magic of both partners to conceive" Hadrian replied.

"Who told you that? How could they make such a huge mistake? And how did you fall pregnant then?" Tim asked.

"The healer I saw in London when I was cursed told me that. And he wasn't wrong, my healer here said the same thing. When I told him you didn't appear to have magic he checked the records. You were a wizard. Technically I suppose you still are though you can't use magic. When you were eight your parents chose to have your magic blocked and your memories of magic erased rather than send you to a magical school" Hadrian said waiting for Tim to get angry.

"Why would they do that?" Tim asked confused.

Hadrian shrugged. "I'm not sure why your parents did it specifically but my healer told me that in America almost ten percent of first generation wizard's parents choose to bind their child's magic. Some out of fear or for religious beliefs, others because they have already planned out their child's education and want to continue with that plan or family traditions or just out of fear of the unknown"

"You mean my father could have had my magic bound because he wanted me to go into the Navy?" Tim asked incredulously.

"I think so Tim. The irony is that American wizarding schools have quite a good reputation teaching the regular subjects as well so going to a wizarding school wouldn't've prevented you from joining the navy if you wanted to, and a wizard healer could easily cure your seasickness, if it wasn't caused by the binding in the first place which is possible."

Tim laughed bitterly "So it's his fault I didn't enlist."

"Yeah probably. But you're happy with what you do? Aren't you?" Hadrian asked.

"Yeah I love NCIS and being on the MCRT is a dream come true" Tim said smiling. "But we've gotten off topic. You're pregnant and the baby is mine? We're going to have a baby?"

"Yes the baby is yours" Hadrian said upset. "You can't think…"

Tim hugged him tight. "Calm down love I'm not doubting you it's just a lot to take in. We'll have to get a bigger place" Tim said looking around the already crowded apartment.

"Umm... well... I've bought a house. I take possession on Friday. It needs a bit of work but it should be ready to move into at the end of the month" Hadrian said.

"You didn't think I should be involved in choosing our house?" Tim asked surprised his lover would have made such a huge decision without talking to him about it.

"Well I bought it on Monday, at the time I didn't think you wanted it to be OUR house. I didn't think you wanted anything to do with me after not hearing from you for days. I'll take you to see the house today and if you hate it I'll rent it out and we can look for another one. It was a good investment anyway and I can afford more than one" Hadrian replied good naturedly. "There wasn't much on the market in this area that had the level of privacy that I wanted where I could put up really strong wards to protect the baby, but we could look in other areas still within commute of the Navy yard."

Tim let the housing subject drop, they'd deal with it later. "Tell me about the baby, when is it due? Are you well? Is there anything special I need to know about male pregnancy?"

"I'm fine love, the potions are taking care of the morning sickness, and I have nutrient potions as well to make sure the baby gets everything it needs" Hadrian reassured him or tried to.

"Are the morning sickness potions safe, there were some serious issues with anti morning sickness medications?" Tim asked anxiously.

"Relax love, these potions have been taken by witches and wizards for hundreds of years. They're perfectly safe" Hadrian reassured his lover.

"Why are you in such a hurry to move?" Tim asked "We've still got about seven or eight month before the baby comes don't we?"

"About six and a half months" Hadrian replied. "But I need to live somewhere more private before I start to show too much and well... some other complications arose while you were away?" he sighed looking sad for a moment.

"Oh?" Tim asked concerned.

"You remember me talking about my godson Teddy who lives with his grandmother Andromeda Tonks since his parents were killed?" Hadrian asked.

"Yes" Tim replied surprised by the seemingly random change of topic.

"Andi Tonks died of heart failure on Sunday night. She left me custody of her grandson, my godson Teddy" Hadrian said nervously. "I know that this is a lot to ask of you but I need to take him to live with me. I promised him that I wouldn't let him grow up not knowing that he is loved and cared for. I can afford to look after him and the baby too. We wouldn't be a burden on you."

Tim knew that Hadrian was still scarred from having grown up with relatives that hadn't wanted him. He understood that Hades would never forgive himself if he was responsible for his godson growing up like that. Tim figured he'd always wanted a family, and it might be good to have more than one child fairly close together. He'd been an only child until he was ten and it was a lonely life, he didn't want that for his children. "You're not a burden. Sounds like our family is off to a running start" he said smiling. "Who's looking after him now? When are you going to go get him?"

"I went to England to get him Monday night. Wizarding travel is a lot faster than muggle airplanes. He's upstairs with Tollie"

"Who's Tollie?" Tim asked.

"Tollie is a house elf. He was Andromeda's so Teddy is used to her" Hadrian explained.

"What's a house elf?" Tim asked confused.

"It might be easier to introduce you to her than explain that. Tollie" Hadrian called.

"Yes master Hadrian" Tollie said popping in.

"Tollie is it safe to leave Teddy alone for a moment?" Hadrian asked.

"He's be sitting on his plays mat playing with his blockses master Hadrian buys him" Tollie replied. "I will knows if he leaves the mat."

"Tollie, I'd like you to meet my partner Tim. Tim this is Tollie, she is a house elf that has been trained as a nanny and helped Andi look after Teddy" Hadrian introduced them. "It's a bit hard to explain to people who haven't grown up with them but house elves need to be bound to a witch or wizard and in return they serve the family. She's not really a slave but it kind of looks that way to people who didn't grow up with magic."

"Okay, you're right I don't really understand it but I know you'd never mistreat anyone. I'm pleased to meet you Tollie" Tim said holding out his hand.

"Master Tim is treating me like a person" Tollie said surprised. "Just like Master Harry."

"You are a person to us Tollie" Hadrian reminded her gently.

Tollie smiled. "You is a good wizard Master Harry."

"Is Teddy okay? He's not distressed this morning?" Hadrian asked.

"Yes Master Hadrian, Master Teddy has hads his breakfast and is beings dressed and happily playings with his new blockses" Tollie said.

"Can you pop him down here to meet Tim in a few minutes?" Hadrian requested.

"Does master Teddy needs his potionses?"

"No Tollie, Tim knows about magic" Hades replied. "And hopefully he's going to live with us so he needs to know about Teddy. Just keep an ear out in case someone else arrives. This isn't the most private location."

"Potionses?" Tim asked amused.

"Potions" Hades corrected. "Teddy has a rare magical gift, he's a metamorphmagus. Which means he has the ability to naturally alter his appearance without spells. It's a Black family trait and I have it a little but not like Teddy does. At his age he can only change his hair skin and eye colour and is beginning to be able to change his hair style as well. His mother was able to change just about anything. She could go from looking like a skinny black ten year old boy to a 200kg Chinese man to a female centrefold model and anything in between. Teddy tends to change himself to copy the person he's with and to change hair colour with his moods. He doesn't have much control yet and I have to give him potions to stop him changing in front of people who don't know about magic."

"It must help to know how he's feeling" Tim said smiling.

"Yeah but it's a nightmare keeping track of him at the park. One minute you're looking after a dark blonde boy and the next minute he's a red head or looks like someone else in the playground."

"Are the potions safe to take all the time?" Tim asked.

"The potions themselves don't do any harm but he needs time without them to learn how to control the gift as well" Hadrian replied. "Besides all potions taste disgusting and I'm sure these one's aren't an exception so I don't like making him take it unless it's necessary."

Tim shuddered in agreement remembering taste of the potions Hades had dosed him with the night before.

"Tollie can you bring Teddy down now?" Hadrian asked.

"If he's be's wanting to come Master Harry" Tollie said worriedly.

Hadrian caught the little creature before she could pop away. "It's not your fault if he doesn't want to come. You're not to punish yourself just come and let us know and I'll come up and get him."

"Maybe you should give us a little more time to talk before Teddy comes down. I'll call for you when we're ready" Tim said to Tollie.

Tollie looked at Hadrian who nodded his agreement. "Yes sir Master Tim" Tollie said popping away.

"She's..." Tim began not knowing what to say. "Can you explain about elves and why she calls you Master Harry? And why is she calling me Master Tim? Does she call all humans Master?"

"No just Teddy and I and now you. House elves have a symbiotic relationship with witches and wizards. They need to be bonded to survive and they love to work and be busy so they make great servants. They serve wizards in return for a bonding. It's difficult to understand but Tollie isn't human and she doesn't understand wanting to be free like a human would. She would be hurt if I was to offer her money or days off. She loves working and her magic is fed by serving her master. Tollie is a nanny elf. She was bound specifically to look after Teddy but because it would be a very bad thing for a child's nanny to be compelled to follow their orders she's also bound to whomever has custody of him so she's called me master since Andi died. She started calling you Master Tim when I called you my partner and she recognised the bond between us. You will also meet Quincy and his team who are renovating our new house."

"How many elves do you have and why have I never seen them before?" Tim asked.

"Personally none, I never knew I owned any elves though I was very good friends with one as a teenager after I freed him from an abusive master. Tollie only belongs to me because having an elf that will do whatever a child asks them to do does not make a good nanny. I've recently found out that the Potter estate has lots of elves. They maintain the rental properties in England. I haven't had an elf here. I like looking after us myself" Hadrian explained.

-o0o-

Tollie brought Teddy down about ten thirty. "Young master is hungry" she said. "I brings him down to feed yous too."

"Thank you Tollie. How are you Teddy?" Hadrian asked smiling at the little boy.

"Hi Uncle Harry. I've been baking with Tollie" Teddy said climbing on his godfather's knee.

"Master Teddy loves to helps Tollie and Mistress Andi with the baking" Tollie explained anxiously.

"That's fine Tollie I understand it can be fun to learn to bake. I enjoy cooking myself" Hadrian said smiling. "Did you make something yummy?" he asked the little boy.

"We made cookies but Tollie wouldn't let me eat them" Teddy said frowning a little.

"They was for morning tea with Master Hadrian and Master Tim" Tollie explained "You's can have some afters yous said Hello to Master Tim."

"Teddy this is my friend Tim. He'll hopefully be coming to live with us when we move into our new house" Hadrian said. "Tim this is my godson Theodore Lupin Black better known as Teddy."

"Pleased to meet you Teddy. Hades has told me lots of stories about you. He's very proud of you"

Teddy looked confused.

"Hades is the name Tim calls me" Hadrian explained. "Just like you call me Uncle Harry, Tim calls me Hades or Hadrian. Lots of people here in America call me Hadrian too."

"It doesn't mean you're in trouble like when Nana called me Theodore?" Teddy asked anxiously.

Hadrian smiled "No. When I'm in trouble I get Hadrian James Potter Black" he said putting on an overly stern voice.

Tim and Teddy laughed.

"Why's Tim coming to live with us? Is he an orphan too?" Teddy asked.

"No Teddy. Tim is going to live with us because I love him and want him to be part of our family" Hadrian replied.

"Are you going to get married? I thought you had to marry a girl" Teddy asked. He'd been impressed by Ron and Hermione's wedding and had asked Harry and Andi a million questions about it.

"It's a bit too soon to think about marrying Tim, but I'm never going to marry a girl" Hadrian said. "I'm sorry if you wanted a mother or godmother but I just can't Teddy."

"Aunt Hermione's my godmother" Teddy said. "I don't want another godmother they aren't much fun."

Hadrian laughed. "Okay then. Tim is hurt at the moment so we need to be quiet and gentle but once he's well I think you'll find he's quite a lot of fun."

"If you'se be eating now I be's going cleaning up" Tollie said clicking her fingers and making a pot of tea and two cups, a glass of milk and a plate of ginger cookies appear on the table.

"Thanks Tollie I'll call you if we need you" Hadrian replied.

"So you were travelling to England using magic. That's why I haven't met Teddy or spoken to him on the phone before now?" Tim asked.

"Yeah I couldn't get you to England without explaining magic and portkeys and Teddy doesn't like portkeys so I didn't want to force him to visit me here. Andi was really uncomfortable using the phone, she kept it turned off unless she wanted to call me."

"What's a portkey?" Tim asked.

"An object with a transportation spell on it. It spins you around in subspace and you arrive a couple of feet above the ground so it can be a bit nauseating. It's the fastest way to move long distances and the magic is in the spell creating it so you could use one."

"How quickly?"

"Eighteen minutes from here to London" Hadrian replied. "The downside is you spend most of that eighteen minutes being pulled around in circles by what feels like a hook in your stomach and the international portkey terminals take nearly as long to get through as Heathrow. Still it's about a tenth of the price of a flight."

"Wow" Tim replied.

"I'm sorry Tim I didn't realise you were upset that I didn't take you to visit Teddy or I would have tried to explain" Hadrian said hugging his boyfriend.

"I don't honestly think you could have explained it in any way that made me feel better without mentioning magic" Tim replied.

Hadrian nodded. "I'm still sorry if it upset you."

"It didn't upset me not to meet him so much as it made me think that you didn't want him to get attached to me because you saw our relationship as temporary. But then I remembered how embarrassed and scared you were when you told me you were gay so I thought you might not have come out to your family yet."

"Teddy is the only family I have and his grandmother was completely entrenched in the British wizarding world which is extremely intolerant of homosexuality. I was worried she would have prevented me from seeing him. I did tell her about you and the baby the other night before she died and she surprised me by how accepting she was."

"But what about the spell?" Tim said confused. "If homosexuality isn't accepted why would wizard doctors recognise a spell that allows gay couples to have children?"

"The spell was developed in America and the healer that recognised it was also American trained. The British wizarding world has banned the use of this spell by healers. The only reason I wasn't arrested is that it was performed on me without my consent, that and the healer gave me all the records of my admission and allowed me to obliviate him so nobody would know. You have to take into consideration that the British wizarding world is almost 200 years behind the real world. They're still using marriage contracts, some of the older families even arrange their children's marriages at birth, and there's no divorce in the wizarding world, magical marriage contracts demand and magically enforce fidelity so there's no possibility of adultery so if you and your spouse are truly incompatible the only other option is celibacy. If I had already signed the marriage contract with Ginny then I would never have been able to have a child which given that they also still practice primogeniture would have meant the bulk of my fortune would have gone to distant cousins instead of any children I adopted"

"So even if you came out as gay you'd still have to marry a woman" Tim said shaking his head. "Do your friends know you're gay?"

"My friends here do. I probably won't ever come out to my old school friends. My best mate and my fiancé were disgusted by the whole idea of me needing to fall pregnant to produce an heir even after I explained artificial insemination. They were horrified by the idea that homosexuality or this spell exists" Hadrian replied.

"It hardly matters though, I can't imagine ever wanting to live in the British wizarding world. You wouldn't want to either they don't have electricity or phones let alone computers."

Tim laughed. "You're joking" he said.

"Two hundred years behind the rest of the world remember. My former best mate's dad couldn't even pronounce ekeltricity properly and he worked at the ministry as a supposed expert on the non-magical world.

"I guess I can't criticise. I'm not out at work or with my parents" Tim said guiltily.

"I understand you can't be officially out at work and I certainly understand you not wanting to tell Tony with the way he picks in you. Or Abby, seeing she seems to think you're just sitting waiting for her to want to spend time with you" Hadrian said reassuringly.

A/N: Thank you to Locket1, Gracie15Trowa, Dedicated4reading, Nymphadora Jackson, Merlenyn, charm13insomnia, avidereader101, Kourtney Uzu Yato, Bella216, Almonda, Winged Dire Wolf7, Maben00, julschristine975, Afrodity, aoin88, lilly-flower15, icyquest4, Village-Mystic, A Random Bowser, xDarklightx, Rori Potter, gabrieljuarezl, lgbtlovechick, acherongoddess, DS2010, Silvermane1, kurosakiami01, A'Lee'Ray, buterflypuss, HowlingRain, Guest, Daenin, Mutt Rivers, mon187, , Misha Benji, 66redman66, storyscriber, Nymphadora Jackson, Dedicated4reading, zetasa, AnimaAngel, Mizzuki, HPSlashAddict, florafruit1122, fictionfan95, BBjaguar, RocklynnJasmine, Magician Girl Mirani, agentcherub, HexRose, masterjedi0401, Vada Shinigami, soprano-in-waiting, Mayumi Shinomori, mandisash and yaoimatrixanime for your support.


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or NCIS or any of their characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do NOT give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

-o0o-

"There's one thing I don't get" Tim said.

"Yeah?" Hadrian asked.

"If you can use this magic portkey thing to go from here to London in eighteen minutes how come you were flying the day we met?" he asked.

"Because Portkeys are strictly regulated and registered in the country of origin. So I can take a return portkey from here to London and all the paperwork is in the American ministry of magic where nobody knows me and my magical signature is registered as Hadrian Black. At the British Ministry of magic everyone recognises me by name and the whole bloody place leaks information like a sieve. If I'd taken a portkey to America, then everybody and their Crup would have known about it by the end of the day" Hadrian explained. "Besides I consult for the non-magical American government agencies too so there had to be records that I'd entered the country legally."

Tim laughed. "Yeah that could be a problem" he agreed. "Is the British government really that bad?"

"I don't think the British muggle government is much different than yours when it comes to things like corruption and information leaks. The wizarding government was corrupt to the core until the end of the war. Kingsley's doing his best to fix it and it is improving but the whole place is used to a horrifying lack of confidentiality and minor bribes" Hadrian replied. "The judicial system wasn't any better but at least the worst offenders were killed off or arrested in the final battle."

"It's still hard to believe there could actually be a war in Britain without the rest of the world knowing about it" Tim said shaking his head.

"Even the British muggle word didn't know, though they were aware of an increase in terrorist activity they blamed it on the IRA. The whole British wizarding world is tiny compared to the muggle world and to be honest the whole Dark side was only a couple of hundred people until the last year when they took over the ministry. You'd probably consider it more of a terrorist group than a civil war. The truly amazing thing is that most British pure bloods have no idea about the muggle world. They are totally shut off from it and they think that their world is as big as yours, they also think they're superior. Even the witches and wizards that don't believe that being pure blood makes you better than having a muggle ancestry believe that muggles are less than wizards. I think it is because back when we hid our world during the witch trials we were better educated and capable of a lot of things muggles couldn't do and the wizarding world really hasn't changed that much since then so they don't realise that the muggle world has."

"They really think that non magical people still live in one room mud huts and cook on open fires and walk everywhere?" Tim asked shocked.

"Well some of them must have realised that muggle education has improved because we don't have classes to teach muggleborn children how to read and write and bathe themselves anymore but it doesn't seem to have translated to the wider population.

"It's actually a problem for the purebloods because if a wizard does get out into the muggle world they don't even have basic road sense and if they survive almost being run over then they come back with stories of being attacked without warning and then people are more afraid of muggles and the isolation continues. And if they went into a non-magical building they would think there weren't any lights because they have no idea what light switches look like or how to use them."

Tim chuckled, "Is that why you were so reluctant to have your friends come to visit?" he asked.

"Mostly yeah. Hermione's muggleborn so she would have been fine but there's no way Ron could have stayed here even half a day without you either finding out about magic or thinking he'd escaped from an asylum" Hadrian replied. "He was also nearly physically sick when I explained to him what homosexual meant, and that was without me even hinting that I could be talking about anyone he knew let alone myself."

"You had to explain it?" Tim asked shocked.

"I've never met an openly gay witch or wizard. I know it isn't actually against the law but I really think that's because it's so ingrained in everyone that it isn't acceptable. You have to remember this is a society where arranged marriages were common until about thirty years ago and even now nearly a quarter of my classmates would have been betrothed before they started at Hogwarts"

Hadrian tried to explain.

Tim's phone rang before either of them could say anything else.

"McGee" Tim greeted the caller formally.

"Timothy. How are you this morning my boy?" Ducky greeted him.

"I feel fine, I slept well and my shoulder feels much better. And yes I've taken the antibiotics" Tim replied touched by the elder man's almost fatherly concern"

"You sound better. Is the dressing still dry and intact?" Ducky asked.

"Yeah I haven't touched it but it doesn't look like it needs redressing" Tim reassured Ducky pulling his T-shirt out to look at the dressing.

"I'll come and take a look at it on my way home then" Ducky replied cheerfully. "Is there anything I can bring you, when I come. Fresh milk and bread perhaps?"

"No my friends have taken care of that. You don't have to come Ducky, I'm sure it's fine" Tim protested lightly.

"Just be thankful I've talked Jethro, Abby, Tony and Ziva out of accompanying me" Ducky replied. "At least I think I've managed to put them off descending on you until tomorrow."

"Thanks Ducky!" Tim said gratefully.

"I'll see you around 1800 then my boy, take care til then" Ducky replied disconnecting.

"Ducky's coming by around six to check my shoulder"

"Oh shite" Hadrian exclaimed.

"Is something wrong with my shoulder, or with Ducky?" Tim asked concerned.

"Only that it's probably too healed. That potion last night should have accelerated the healing process. If Ducky's use to looking at wounds he'll notice that it looks like you got shot a lot longer ago than it should."

"Ducky's one of the finest medical examiners in the country, and yes he looks after all the teams when they're injured. He will definitely notice" Tim said. "But he won't know how or why it healed so quickly, and I've healed quicker than he expected before just probably not this much quicker. He'll have no reason to believe that it was anything you've done."

"Ducky's your medical examiner, is he Dr Mallard?" Hadrian asked making the connection.

"Yeah why?" Tim asked.

"He knows about magic" Hadrian replied. "After the case we had together the medical examiner would have had to have their memories adjusted to hide the real cause of death but he didn't because he already knew about magic. He's not a wizard himself but he has or had a relative that is."

-o0o-

"Is Tim sick?" Teddy asked Hadrian in a small voice, they were up in Hadrian's apartment playing on the floor while Tim was downstairs napping.

"He was badly hurt at work but he's getting better" Hadrian replied, hugging his godson.

"So he's not going to go to heaven like Mummy and Daddy and Grandma?" Teddy asked uncertainly.

Hadrian kissed him on the top of his head. "No Teddy, Tim will be all better in another day or two. He's going to move into our new house with us when the elves are finished fixing it. He's going to read stories and help us make play forts and go to the park and the zoo with us and teach you so many new things about the non-magical world and we are going to be a family." Hadrian hoped he wasn't making promises and plans that Tim wouldn't want to keep. Tim had seemed accepting of Teddy's place in his life and after what Tim had said about his own childhood and relationship with his father, Hadrian knew Tim would never deliberately make Teddy feel unwanted or insecure about his place in their family.

Teddy smiled and settled back to his toys happily.

-o0o-

"Quincy" Hadrian called mid afternoon after Tim and Teddy had both woken from their afternoon naps.

"Master Hadrian" Quincy replied popping in.

"Is it a convenient time to talk" Hadrian asked.

"Yes Master Hadrian" Quincy replied.

"How is the house coming along? Would it be safe for us to come and look it over this afternoon?" Hadrian asked.

"The wards is done and the house is safe. The floors and walls and windows is fixed. The celingses is painted. We's is needing yous to choose colours for the insides wallses. The kitchen and bathrooms will takes another weeks but it would be good if yous want to choose how you want thems now too" Quincy said.

"It sounds like they've done a lot of work" Tim said.

"The house was structurally sound but it had been vacant for years so it needed a lot of updating and cosmetic work" Hadrian explained. "What about the electric wiring? This will be a muggle home too" he asked Quincy.

"The wiring for the electricities be done" Quincy said.

Hadrian put on rubber gloves and opened Tim's laptop to pull up the listing he'd saved and the photo's he'd taken when he viewed the house the other day.

"I take it the rubber gloves is a magic thing?" Tim asked.

"Yes I'm not sure it's necessary but magic and electronics don't mix and I'd hate to wreck your computer. I think that's why I had so much trouble with the phone you bought me. My new one has a special magic hardening but they still don't last as long as they should. I didn't know you could get phones like that, otherwise I would have stopped you from buying me a normal one."

Tim looked at the listing. The house is a wreck it's going to take months for the contractors to fix that. And cost a fortune" Tim said.

"No It will only take another two or three weeks. That's the advantage of magic" Hadrian said.

"The land alone is worth a fortune" Tim said anxiously looking at the address. "Hadrian I can't pay my half of this."

"I didn't ask you to pay half" Hadrian said. "I can easily afford the house Tim. It should be a similar commute to the Navy yard maybe even a little shorter."

"Even when you didn't know if I wanted to be with you anymore you still considered my commute" Tim said touched, though he was still uneasy about not paying his share of the house.

"Of course. I wanted you to move in with us. I think you'll love the manor it's got some real charm even with how filthy it was and the size of the block and high walls around it means Teddy will be able to play outside without taking his potion. These are the other housed I looked at." Hadrian quickly pulled up each house he'd visited describing why it hadn't been suitable.

-o0o-

Tim couldn't drive with his shoulder and Hadrian knew how much it hurt to be side-along apparated or portkeyed with an injury and also decided not to subject Tim to his still jerky driving style so they took a taxi to view the house. "Can you wait?" Hadrian asked the driver.

"On the clock, sure" the driver replied smiling. It was a slow time of day and being able to stop and eat his afternoon snack while being paid was a real bonus.

Hadrian led Tim through the gates which now looked like new and up the overgrown drive to the house. It had changed considerably the roof, gutters and windows looked like new and the brickwork repaired perfectly.

"This place is huge. We don't need all this space" Tim said.

"Yeah but it was the only house that had the privacy we needed for Teddy to be able to play outside without taking his potions, within a reasonable commute that wasn't actually in need of pulling down and rebuilding. And it's gorgeous inside (or it will be) and it was a real bargain because of the state it was in. If I hadn't have bought it a developer probably would have and pulled it down." Hadrian explained.

"It's going to cost a fortune to heat" Tim said mildly.

"Oh no master Tim. The runes will helps heats" Quincy said.

"Runes?" Tim said looking at Hadrian.

"Think magical insulation. The environmental control runes will keep the entire house at about 21 degrees Celsius" and the humidity comfortable, regardless of the weather outside" Hadrian explained.

"I think I'm going to love living in a magical house. What else will they do?" Tim said smiling.

"The house is fireproofs, termite proofs, decay proofs, rust proofs, mould proofs and flood proofs the windows is waterproofs and weather proofs and unbreakables. The wards prevents mean intents, theifs, and spys or scrying, also prevents peoples from noticing magics. Also prevents spiders, Quincy not be liking spiders."

Tim laughed.

"The runic arrays will also run the hot water so it can be set at different temperatures from each tap" Hadrian said enthusiastically, "So we can have our shower hot but Teddy's bath will never be hot enough to burn him or the baby. Really the utility bills here probably won't be any more than they are in your flat."

"Did you set wards on my apartment?" Tim asked.

"Only a mild intent ward to prevent access to anyone who meant you harm. Too many wards would interfere with TV and mobile phone reception."

"Is that why Tony hasn't broken into and searched my apartment lately?"

Hadrian blushed. "Probably, I might have overpowered it a bit, but if Tony was searching for you because he was worried about you the wards wouldn't stop him only if he was just snooping or trying to prank you would they affect him."

"Wait does that mean my computer, internet connection and cell phone won't work here?" Tim asked concerned.

Hadrian pulled out his phone and checked. "It won't work within 2 metres of the fence line but it should be fine in the house itself so long as you're not holding it against the floor or walls. The only problem is whether anyone notices the phone black spot as you walk past the property on this side of the street. If you're having trouble with them after we move in we could go to the magical electronics shop to see if they have a way of fixing the problem."

They finished looking around and headed out into the back garden.

"Do you like the house?" Hadrian asked.

"It's beautiful, and you're right about the character. It's going to be a lovely home" Tim said smiling. The house was way bigger than the four of them needed but so long as it wasn't decorated too formally it would still feel homely.

"So you'll move in with us? We can be a family?" Hadrian asked happily.

"Yes Hades. I'll gladly move in with you and make a family with you, Teddy and the baby" Tim said.

"Let's go home. You should be resting" Hadrian said. "We'll choose colours for you tonight and decide what sort of kitchen and bathrooms we want" he told Quincy.

The taxi driver looked a little nervous when they got back to the car. "Did you know this is a cellphone dead spot?" he asked.

"No I didn't the phone works fine up in the house" Hadrian said feigning surprise.

-o0o-

"Hades, can you get me some books that tell me more about magic and what it can and can't do?" Tim asked. "I believe you but the scientific half of my brain is going nuts trying to explain it and I don't want to drive you mad with questions." 'Or ask too many and sound like an idiot.' He added silently.

"I'm happy to answer your questions but I can get you books if you'd rather but you won't be able to explain magic with science. Magic has its own laws but it really doesn't follow many of your established rules of physics, chemistry, or biology" Hadrian replied. "It's making it really hard for me at school to remember stuff that I know with magic isn't always true."

Tim laughed.

"I don't know how good the books here might be, magical Britain banned all books from magical America decades ago. But Hermione found the inconsistencies in a lot of magical books would drive her mad. Authors in Britain aren't good at differentiating between what they know as a fact and what they believe and lack of advances in magical printing and the quality of magical preservation spells often meant that a book hundreds of years old doesn't look any older than a book written recently."

"So it's like there's still books out there stating that the world is flat and nothing's been done to mark these books as debunked historical perspectives?" Tim asked disbelievingly.

Hadrian nodded. "Not that extreme perhaps but yeah."

"Do you want me to go upstairs? Ducky will be here soon" Hadrian asked as he looked over and checked the time.

"I'd rather not have to introduce you as a neighbour and casual acquaintance" Tim replied. "I think we could trust Ducky to keep the secret. Gibbs is the one he's most likely to tell and he already knows."

"I don't mind, but it's not my life that's going to be affected if you're wrong" Hadrian said smiling.

"I'll go if you like."

"No stay. I'd like you to meet Ducky, He won't judge us" Tim decided.

"I should send Teddy up to Tollie, that way he won't hear anything if Ducky doesn't approve" Hadrian said.

Tollie popped in. "You called Tollie, Master Hadrian?"

"I was about to Tollie. Can you take Teddy upstairs for a while? Tim's doctor is about to visit" Hadrian said smiling at the eager little elf. "Teddy can you go with Tollie?"

"I'se takes and gives little Masters a bath" Tollie suggested. "Master Teddys loves his bathses"

"Bubble Bath" Teddy agreed laughing and reached out for Tollie. They popped away and Hadrian put away the toys he'd been playing with before starting dinner.

"There should be enough for three if you want to ask Ducky to stay for dinner" he said to Tim. "I'll just pop the bread rolls in the oven to go with it."

"Thanks Hadrian. It smells terrific"

"It was a pity your Mum couldn't stay for dinner. It was the best chicken korma I've made yet" Hadrian said smiling.

"I'm sure Ducky will appreciate it far more than the Admiral would've" Tim replied.

"Oh I must have the wrong apartment" Ducky said when Hadrian opened the door.

"No. this is Tim's apartment. You must be his friend Ducky" Hadrian smiled ushering him in. "Tim's watching movies on the bed."

"I'm afraid you have the advantage" Ducky said.

"I'm Hadrian, I'm a friend of Tim's I live upstairs" Hadrian introduced himself holding out his hand.

"Pleased to meet you. I've heard Tim mention a friend Hades. Is that you?" Duck asked shaking his hand.

"Yeah he calls me Hades" Hadrian said grinning.

"I was of the opinion his friend Hades was an a.. agent" Ducky said.

"You meant to say an adult" Hadrian said dryly. "I am. I'm also an agent, secret service seconded to the FBI."

"I'm sorry, it's a sign of age you know, to think that people are younger than they are. I always have trouble with the new cadets, to me they still look like they should be in high school, but I remember resenting it when I first qualified too. In fact…"

"Hey Ducky" Tim called out interrupting the story that was no doubt coming.

Ducky tried to fuss over Tim but he looked too well for him to worry. "You must be taking excellent care of him" he said to Hadrian. "He's almost as stubborn about refusing to rest as Jethro."

"I threatened to tie his good arm and both feet to his bed" Hadrian said grinning. Tim tried to control his blush. It was true just not in the context of making him rest when he was injured.

He eased off Tim's loose shirt and gently peeled off the dressing. Tim and Ducky both looked at the wound in astonishment. It was nearly healed.

"I don't know how you healed up so quickly but it looks good. The risk of it becoming infected is low but I want you to be careful not to over stretch or move the arm, we don't want to risk reinjuring the muscle" Ducky ordered. "You don't have to stay in bed but I don't want you back at work until Monday and you'll be on desk duty until your physical therapist clears you for the field."

"Would you like to stay for dinner? Hades says there's easily enough for three. He's made curry and Indian bread" Tim invited.

"My dear boy I wouldn't want to impose" Ducky protested.

"You wouldn't be imposing. I'm grateful to you for looking after me and Hades has been interested in meeting the team. We just haven't had the same time off lately and I'm not sure I want to deal with him meeting Tony.

"Not to mention I doubt he'd get served at the bars Tony likes, without pulling his ID and making a scene" Ducky suggested.

Tim laughed. "He's not a kid" he said.

"Yes he told me he's an agent" Ducky said.

Tim frowned, Hadrian almost never mentioned being an agent to anybody they'd met. "Why'd he tell you that?"

"I mentioned you telling me Hades was a fellow agent and he confirmed it" Ducky said flushing slightly in remembrance of how nearly he'd been rude to Timothy's friend.

"You told him he looked too young to be an agent" Tim guessed. "It's okay he knows he does. It's the strangest thing, he looks years younger now than when we met a couple of years ago. Of course that was just after he left the warzone so I guess stress does that to a person."

"Yes indeed so he's a veteran?" Ducky asked curiously.

"Not a military veteran but he did grow up and work in a war zone for many years" Tim replied.

Ducky was surprised when he walked into the kitchen to see Hadrian strapping a child into a highchair. "Hello Ducky. How's Tim's shoulder?" Hadrian asked, looking slightly anxious.

"It's healing remarkably well" Ducky reported. "There's no need to worry so long as he doesn't overdo it. I've taken the stitches out but I'd recommend no heavy lifting for at least two more weeks."

"This is my godson Teddy. Teddy this is Tim's friend and doctor Ducky" Hadrian introduced.

"Quack quack" Teddy said clapping his hands.

"Oh dear I'm sorry Doctor" Hadrian apologised. "Yes Teddy ducks do say quack quack but it's Doctor Ducky's name and it isn't nice to make fun of people's names" he tried to explain to the little boy. He turned and saw Tim trying to contain his laughter just out of Ducky's hearing.

"I thought he was going to stay upstairs with Tollie" Tim said mildly. "Not that he's not welcome to eat with us" he added not wanting Hades to think he didn't want the little boy around.

He got a bit upset after his bath wanting Andi to come and read to him so Tollie brought him down for me. He's okay now though and I'll read to him after dinner."

"Teddy's just lost his grandmother who he was living with" Tim explained to Ducky.

"Oh the poor little tyke" Ducky exclaimed. "May I tell him a story while you finish getting dinner ready?"

"I'm sure he'd love that" Hadrian smiled.

"Will he eat Korma?" Tim asked.

"It's pretty mild but I'll mix a little more coconut milk in his" Hadrian replied. "He's a very good eater generally."

It only took a few minutes now that Hadrian wasn't having to entertain the little boy as he worked and they sat and ate companionably.

"That was delicious. Did you make the bread as well?" Ducky complimented.

"Yes I've been taking an Indian cooking class. I've always found cooking to be a good stress relief" Hadrian replied smiling. "And it's nice to cook for people who appreciate it." The meal had been pleasant, full of stories of the old country from Ducky who was amazed Hadrian had gone to school in his beloved Scotland though he didn't seem to have seen much of the country. Hadrian had initially tried to steer the reminiscences towards the team wanting to find out more about the people Tim worked with but backed down when he saw Tim frowning.

After dinner Hadrian and Teddy went back upstairs leaving tin and Ducky alone.

"Who took the kill shot Ducky?" Tim asked.

"Impossible to tell my boy. All three shots would have killed him within minutes. Your bullet pierced the abdominal aorta, Tony's the carotid artery and Gibbs the heart itself. I.A. have already cleared the three of you. Don't worry about it my boy he'd killed before this case and he would have killed again if you hadn't caught him."

"Thanks Ducky" Tim replied. "He would have killed one of us if he'd had time to get off another shot. I'm not losing sleep over the possibly that I killed him."

"That's good my boy. I like your young friends" Ducky said.

Tim smiled but didn't offer any further information.

"I don't think I need to check on that shoulder again but do call me if there's any discharge or increased swelling. Goodnight my boy"

"Night Ducky. I'll see you next week" Tim replied.

Tim texted Hadrian once he'd heard Ducky's Morgan drive away and Hadrian came down with another potion to finish the healing. "There's a stronger healing potion but that wouldn't even leave a scar which I'd guess would be a bad thing in this situation" he said.

"Yes, the team would be expecting to see a scar" Tim replied.

"Now you know about magic I could give you a vial of potion to keep in your pocket in case you get hurt in a situation where you can use it before anyone sees the injury" Hadrian offered.

"Is there any injuries I shouldn't use it for?" Tim asked.

"There's no injuries it would harm you to use it on though it won't work well against dark magic or injuries caused magical creatures. The only risk is that you'll be found before the potion finishes working which tales about fifteen minutes, and somebody will see injuries disappearing before their eyes" Hadrian replied.

"Or gunshots where the bullet is still inside?" Tim added.

"I hadn't thought of that. Wizards don't typically use guns in England" Hadrian admitted. "But yeah you're right it could cause problems. The other thing you need to be careful of is that the potion uses your magic to heal so you'll feel drained. It's best if you can sleep after taking it though it isn't strictly necessary."

"That could also be a problem seeing as the team wouldn't know I'd been injured" Tim replied thoughtfully.

"It could still save your life though Tim if you were in a position where help wasn't immediately available" Hadrian said hoping he wouldn't hesitate to use the potion if he really needed it. "Just remember you can't give it to your teammates, not just because they don't know about magic, but it won't work on them."

Hadrian was right about the potion making him sleepy and he was a bit disappointed, he'd hoped to be able to make love tonight. They hadn't had sex since a week or so before their fight because Hadrian had been feeling nauseas and Tim felt the need to reconnect with his partner. Still drifting off to sleep with Hadrian's arms wrapped around him felt good too and there was always tomorrow.

A/N: Thank you to Guest, Kourtney Uzu Yato, HPSLASHADDICT(Guest), xDarklightx, charm13insomnia, julschristine975, icyquest4, Rori Potter, Dedicated4reading, lilly-flower15, Village-Mystic, gabrieljuarezl, Maben00, buterflypuss, Winged Dire Wolf7, sezeny, acherongoddess, Bella216, Bee (Guest), DS2010, Merlenyn, ElysiumPhoenix, serenityselena, Silvermane1, runaway demon, shidoni16, DanaeJesabel, aayjames, strawberry-reader, Undine-Genest, Princessmeg8989, misssmartt, MaliciousDelerium, YukiyaS2, egram23, TheAngelsarewatching, Melshenia Kari, foxgirl24, KishuMai, aoin88, RabitNut, bluekyubi1985, Mithalis, sakurakhadag, I'mfreakylikethat, travainiaqueen, KitRoFei and rkmpjohns for your support.


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or NCIS or any of their characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do NOT give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

"Hadrian, how did the healer know that I have magic and it's been bound?" Tim asked. "And can I get it unbound? Should I? What would happen if I did?"

"I'm afraid that Healer Roberts didn't think that your magic could be unbound" Hadrian said. "I have an appointment next week but I could call him and make one for you before that if you want to talk to him."

"He said that the block couldn't be reversed? What about my memories? Maybe I would remember why my parents wanted to do this to me" Tim asked.

"It would take a specialised mind healer but it is possible to reverse obliviations, you might get some memories of performing accidental magic. It's possible some of those memories might be a bit traumatic, often accidental magic first manifests while under extreme distress" Hadrian replied. "You know there's no guarantee that you were there when your parents made the decision, or that your father talked about why he wanted your magic blocked."

"I'll make you an appointment. He said he might be able to cure your seasickness too, and maybe some of your allergies" Hadrian said pulling out his phone and ringing the healer.

How was I born a wizard when my parents don't have magic?" Tim asked.

I don't know why it happens but it does about fifteen present of my class didn't have magical parents but I'm not sure if that percentage is normal or it was because of the war. Mum and Dad's class was more than twice as big as ours. Just like sometimes a child can be born without magic even if their parents are a witch and wizard, though the pure blood families all deny that it happens in their family" Hadrian tried to explain. "Hermione would probably know. She's one of those people that just has to know everything she can find out about a subject when she thinks about it."

"It's okay. I was just curious" Tim said.

"Healer Roberts might know more about it" Hadrian replied.

"You said that they don't bind kids' magic in England?" Tim said.

"No it's probably the only way Britain treat muggleborns better than America do. To be honest if they told muggleborns in Britain and their parents the truth about the amount of prejudice they're going to face in the wizarding world most of the parents would get their children's magic blocked and I'm not entirely sure most of them wouldn't be better off" Hadrian replied.

"How would they be better off losing a part of themselves?" Tim asked.

"Hermione got the highest exam results in 20 years and she's a decorated war hero. But she still earns less than most of the purebloods from our year who work in similar jobs do and her prospects for promotion are almost non-existent. And that's after hiring on blood status has supposedly been discouraged. "My mother was muggleborn and the last person to score higher than Hermione and she couldn't have for any job better than janitor or kitchen assistant/waitress in our government, and there were very few masters willing to take a muggleborn as an apprentice. And having left normal education at eleven their prospects in the mundane world aren't much better. Sending them to Hogwarts condemns them to a life of subsistence wages and poverty. Mum married straight out of school and had me at nineteen and sometimes I wonder if that was because she didn't have any other career options. It's better here because the wizarding schools teach normal subjects too so muggleborns can easily return to the mundane world and the wizarding world here knows it's in their society's best interest to keep as many as they can employed in the wizarding world and adding to the gene pool."

-o0o-

"I'm a little surprised that Tony, Ziva and Abby haven't come to see if I'm alright" Tim said. "The wards wouldn't be keeping them away?"

"They haven't called either and the wards have absolutely no effect on telephone calls. And they wouldn't stop them from visiting unless they meant you some sort of harm.

"But they could stop Tony if he was coming to check on me but also wanted to tease me about something or play some minor prank?" Tim asked.

"Depends on how minor the prank was and whether the intended teasing was about something that would have hurt you. I know that Tony doesn't always realise when he takes the teasing too far" Hadrian replied. "They might also stop him if his main motivation in visiting was to gather information to tease you about later."

"Would Ziva's curiosity also cause her problems with the wards?" Tim asked.

"Not if she didn't intend to use the information to hurt you. Of course if she were still passing information to Mossad they may see it as a betrayal" Hadrian replied.

"And Abby?" Tim asked, "Why will the wards be stopping Abby from visiting?"

"They wouldn't if she genuinely wanted to see you were okay or visit because she missed you" Hadrian replied trying to sound casual. He honestly didn't want to tell Tim that the woman he thought of as his friend probably hadn't even thought of trying to visit him

"Are you jealous of Abby? Would the wards treat her as a threat because of that? I promise that any feeling I had for her when we were dating are long gone. You showed me how someone who truly cares about me couldn't treat me the way she does."  
"No I'm not jealous, I have no reason to be, and no the wards aren't that kind of sentient" Hadrian replied. "I would feel better if you told her you were with someone and can't be at her beck and call anymore though. But that's mostly for your benefit that she stops dragging you out to places you hate."  
Tim nodded "I'll tell her when I get back to work, unless she calls before then" he promised.  
"She won't. You can't do anything for her while you're injured" Hadrian snarked.  
Tim let it go. Hadrian had helped him to see that Abby was big at asking for his help or inviting him places when she needed a ride but not so good at offering him help or accompanying him places he wanted to go to. It still hurt a little to realise the person he considered one of his best friends was too self-centred to realise she was using him. He was sure Abby considered him a close friend. 

-o0o-

Gibbs started his day by visiting Autopsy. "You see Tim last night?" he asked.

"Yes his shoulder is healing remarkably well and his friend is a very good cook" Ducky replied.

"Glad to hear he's been taken care of" Gibbs replied. "When will he be back at work?"

"You know the doctor at Bethesda gave him two weeks" Ducky replied firmly. "It is in his best interest to rest his shoulder."

"Understood Duck" Gibbs replied.

"Jethro, what do you know about young Hadrian?" Ducky asked more out of curiosity than concern.

"He's 24 though he doesn't look it. And he and Tim have been together for a while. He obviously cares for Tim. He recognised me when Tim sent me up to tell him he was home and nearly passed out in fright thinking Tim had been badly injured, he was quite relieved it was a minor wound."

"Tim said he previously lived and worked in a war zone and is currently seconded to the FBI" Ducky replied. "He didn't show signs of PTSD but he's definitely used to caring for injured friends and colleagues."

"Did Tim ask you not to mention him to the rest of the team?" Gibbs asked.

"No but then he introduced his as a friend and neighbour" Ducky said. "Even at 24 he's a bit young for our Timothy and with the child in tow as well …"

"Child, Duck?" Gibbs asked demandingly.

"Young Teddy, his godson, he appears to be about three" Ducky replied. Hadrian said that his grandmother had recently died but didn't mention the parents. Tim seemed to be a bit uncomfortable with him. The child has a strong British accent that sounds more midlands than Hadrian's so I don't think Hadrian has had him living with him for very long."

"Ask Tim about it when he gets back. They seemed devoted Duck and it hasn't affected his work" Gibbs said dismissively.

"You're not at all concerned?" Ducky asked.

"Duck when I saw them they were both very emotional, far too much to hide their honest reactions. They genuinely care for each other and Tim has been happier this year. Did you see something I need to be concerned about because I didn't?" Gibbs replied.

"Well nooo…" Ducky began.

"Until we see something to be concerned about then it's none of our business. Tim made that clear when he chose not to tell us about his relationship before he was injured" Gibbs instructed.

-o0o-

"Are you going to tell your family about the baby?" Hadrian asked as they lay cuddled in bed that night.

Tim stiffened.

"You don't have to. I'm not sure if they had their memories of magic erased when your magic was bound or not so technically they're not supposed to be told about magic until the baby shows signs of being magical, and not even then unless they regularly babysit. It would be hard to explain without telling them that." Hadrian said hurriedly.

"My father campaigned against allowing gays and women to serve in the navy, he's still campaigning against the potential abolition of 'Don't Ask Don't Tell'. I hadn't spoken to him in years before he showed up here the other day. I don't know why he came he didn't ask how I really was, I think it was because SecNav mentioned my injury and he had a couple of hours free before he would seem him again and it would look odd if he hadn't visited me. He wouldn't want his bosses thinking anything's not normal with his family. He can't forgive me for not following family tradition and joining the navy. I think that he'd disown me completely if I told him I was in a relationship with a man let alone a wizard" Tim replied.  
"And your Mum?" Hadrian asked.  
Tim sighed. "She won't go against Dad. I don't even know what she really thinks."  
"Have you ever asked?"  
"Hades she hasn't ever expressed an opinion that differs from my father's not once in my whole life, even when he's away at sea for months everything had to be done the way Dad wanted it done" Tim replied frustrated. "She mentioned wanting to meet the 'girl' who's been cooking for me and I asked if she'd still want to meet them if it was someone the Admiral wouldn't approve of. She looked worried but didn't answer."  
"What about your sister? Or your grandmother?" Hadrian asked.  
"I could happily tell Penny about our relationship. It just hasn't come up. Mostly she's been telling me about her travels lately" Tim replied. "There's too much about my job I couldn't tell her and I haven't had much else to talk about so she stopped asking. I did tell her about meeting you back then and about our friendship. I think I could tell Sarah too. We're both used to keeping each other's secrets."  
Hadrian smiled.

-o0o-

Tim woke to the sound of a soft pop which he couldn't place. He got up, pulling on pants and looked around noticing Hades wasn't there. Pulling on a T-shirt he went upstairs and let himself into Hades' apartment noticing the changes now Teddy was living there. He found Hades in the rocking chair with Teddy crying on his lap.  
"I didn't mean to disturb you" Hadrian apologised.  
"It's fine. Did he have a nightmare?" Tim said sitting on the floor at Hade's feet.  
"He woke up crying for Andi" Hadrian explained. "I'll just get him settled back to sleep."  
"Do you want to bring him downstairs to sleep with us?" Tim offered.  
Hadrian smiled. "Thanks Tim but I'd rather him not get into the habit of sleeping with us" he replied. "Especially once the baby comes."  
Tim smiled. "How do you think he's going to react to becoming a big brother?" He asked.  
"Probably not very well at first" Hadrian said thoughtfully. "He was looking forward to his godmother having her baby but he's still feeling a bit insecure being here with us instead of his grandmother."  
"Is your ex fiancé his godmother?" Tim asked.  
"No Hermione was one of my best friends but I don't know how much I can trust her now. she's married to Ginny's brother and the whole family reacted badly when I broke off my engagement. She supported me at the time but I know Ginny was her first female friend and the closest. I was disappointed to hear that she's barely spent any time with Teddy over the last few years. I expected better from her. She knew I'd left the country and I know Andi never told her I was visiting" Hadrian rambled. "She also wrote that biography I gave you to read."  
"Stop worrying about it now and come and get some sleep" Tim said coaxingly as he stood and carefully picked up the sleeping child from Hades lap laying him in his bed and kissing his forehead.  
Hadrian smiled. "You don't resent him?" He said as they left the room.  
"I always wanted a family, at least a couple of kids close together in age. I'm glad our baby is going to have a big brother to look out for him or her" Tim said smiling. "And he's such a sweetheart. I can't help but love him."  
"He is a darling! Andi did a great job raising him" Hadrian agreed recasting the monitoring spells.  
"You do a great job with him too. It's obvious how much he loves you" Tim said hugging his boyfriend. "You're going to be a great Dad."  
"You are too" Hadrian replied kissing Tim. "Do you want me to apparate us back to bed or will you walk down to meet me?"  
"I'll walk" Tim replied. He watched as Hades disappeared with a small pop. It wasn't loud but for a moment the air pressure in the room dropped slightly and Tim who'd had inner ear issues most of his life realised that's what had woken him earlier.

"When's his grandmother's funeral?" Tim asked when he arrived downstairs.

Hadrian sighed. "Tomorrow but we can't possibly go" he said regretfully. "I can't subject Teddy to two more international portkeys and I can't show up in Britain without causing a scene. Andi and I discussed it, she'd rather Teddy not go to the funeral anyway. Not to mention it will be in the middle of the night here and that there will be people there who will object to me having custody and taking Teddy out of the country. And my ex and all her family will be there."

"Could you go in disguise? I could look after Teddy for you if you wanted to go" Tim offered.

"No, but thanks for offering" Hadrian replied smiling. "I said my goodbyes the night she died."

"You were there when she died?" Tim asked concerned about his boyfriend.

"Yeah she called me to come and take Teddy because she wasn't well enough to look after him anymore and I got there as she had the attack. If she's been well enough to survive it, I would have portkeyed her back here to see if there was anything the American healers could do that the British healer she'd seen didn't know about, but she wasn't. She didn't want me to call anyone else so I sat with her for a couple of hours. We talked about what she hoped for me and Teddy. It was a surprisingly positive experience" Hadrian said reminiscently.

"Were you close to her?" Tim asked.

"Recently yes. I'd only met her once before Remus and Tonks were killed but I knew nothing about babies and she was really good about helping me learn to look after him. Neither of us any other family and to be honest Teddy's godmother isn't really interested. Hermione went to Australia to look for her parents straight after the war and stayed with them until it was time to go back to school, then there was her work and apparently since I left she's got married had and is expecting her own baby which surprised me. I would have thought she'd want to have a career first, especially as I can't see her husband or his family tolerating her leaving the child to return to work" Hadrian rambled.

"Is that more of the old time beliefs that married women don't work outside the home?" Tim asked.

"No I know lots of married women who did but Mrs Weasley chose not to and her other daughters-in-law have all done the same so far" Hadrian replied.

"Peer pressure from Mama?" Tim asked jokingly.

Hadrian smiled "Probably. She's very determined to get her own way and opposing her can be unpleasant" he admitted.

-o0o-

In Hades, Tim had met his perfect match. Neither of them enjoyed parties or clubs and while both appreciated the odd pint down their local pub or meal out they were perfectly happy hanging out together at home watching movies snuggled up on the couch or doing their own thing. Tim writing or playing with computer code trying to invent better programs to complete searches quicker, and Hadrian studying or reading up on the care of babies. The addition of Teddy hadn't caused too much disruption to their lifestyle and Tim quickly came to love the little boy almost as much as Hadrian did. Tollie was a great help of course and while Tim was still a little uncomfortable with having a servant underfoot all the time he appreciated her cheerful help. (Hadrian hasn't yet admitted to him that there would be another two elves in the house and three in the garden- they'd begged to be allowed to help and he hadn't had the heart to say no. Hadrian didn't love jazz the way Tim did but had come to appreciate the soft cheerful sounds in the background as they worked and was always happy to accompany him to the occasional concert.  
Tim still didn't know much about Hades' job though he'd been able to tell him more now he knew about magic he knew Hades worked a couple of cases per month usually three or four days at a time which must make going to his high school classes difficult.

Now that Tim was recovered enough to apparate without pain they went over to check on the progress every day or so. Quincy showed them around proudly and they were amazed with how much the elf and his team of largely invisible workers achieved each day. Hadrian had asked them if they could renovate 12 Grimmauld Place and Quincy had sent a team of elves in London to do it.

There were surprisingly few arguments over the decoration and furnishing of the house each happy to concede if the other felt strongly about a colour scheme. Tim felt Hadrian should have the final say as he was paying for the house and the alterations but Hadrian had insisted Tim should also have choices as it would be his home too. Tim had tried to bring up paying for at least a share of the house even though he would have to take out a loan to pay more than 10% but Hadrian just showed Tim his latest bank statement and said it wasn't necessary. "Money and ownership isn't important to me. I'm happy to pay for the house, particularly if you need to keep paying rent on your apartment to hide the fact you've moved in with me."

"I don't think that will be necessary. I'll just register a change of address though it might be better if I claim my new address to be an apartment in the building rather than the whole house. Otherwise it might raise questions about my finances" Tim replied.

Hadrian laughed. "You could always tell them you were a kept man. The toy boy for a multi-millionaire" he teased.

"You look more like you're my toy boy" Tim teased back.

Hadrian laughed again glad that Tim was becoming more relaxed about their age difference and also their financial situation. It had helped that Hadrian had let Tim purchase all the furniture for the nursery. Most of the rest of the house was furnished with antiques from the Potter and Evander vaults though they also bought some delightfully squishy couches for the small family lounge area.

Quincy had brought them paint and fabric swatches and they had fun choosing colours for the various rooms.

Tim's office was in soft greens and blues, very calming while Hadrian's private space was cream and gold with touches of scarlet, a toned down version of the Gryffindor common room. Their bedroom was sea greens and warm creams which managed to be luxurious and elegant while still feeling inviting and homely. Teddy's room was done the same as his room back home had been until he was old enough to choose his own colours and decorations and the nursery was a cheerful blend of yellows and pale oranges which worked better that Tim thought it would. Hadrian also insisted on decorating a guest room in Sarah's favourite colours as well as one that should appeal to Penny's more bohemian tastes.

The formal dining room was red and the kitchen and casual dining area a cheerful yellow and white with a Hamptons style kitchen and wooden benchtops. Other than the bathrooms which were the most decadent thing Tim had ever seen with a Jacuzzi type tub, large double shower and rain forest decorated look, the whole house seemed casual and cosy.

The elves also brought the gardens back to their previous splendour and Tim was amazed as Hadrian conjured play equipment for Teddy.

"Why'd we buy all that furniture if you could just make it like that?" He asked.

"It takes a lot of energy and it won't last more than a day or two which for play equipment is good because I can make it a bit different every time to keep up his interest and extend his motor skills as they develop. But for furniture we want to use the same way all the time it would take too much energy to be constantly re-transfiguring it all" Hadrian explained.

Tim nodded.

"We might have to buy some play things too if the healer limits how much magic I can do later in the pregnancy but I have a lot of magic to burn so it's fine at the moment" Hadrian added.

"So wizarding children are totally spoilt for toys" Tim asked.

"Not as much as you would think. The only wizarding family with children I stayed with were the Weasleys who didn't have a lot in the way of toys. I think a lot of magic went into keeping the house standing because it never would have stood up without magic. Playground equipment like this is a purely muggle idea. Ginny was ten when I met the Weasleys but the only toys they had were brooms and quidditch stuff and chess and gobstones and stuffed animals, I never heard of any other kids having other stuff either. Neville's family was quite wealthy but he mostly spoke about his greenhouse.

A/N: Thank you to Merlenyn , Kourtney Uzu Yato, Locket1, julschristine975, mithrilandtj, Guest, Silvermane1, Dedicated4reading, DevilishAngel666, Gracie15Trowa, Village-Mystic, Maben00, Bella216, DS2010, serenityselena, mayawene, tat5934, EMReader81, charm13insomnia, xDarklightx, lilly-flower15, Rori Potter, acherongoddess, buterflypuss, gabrieljuarezl, Nix09, of-B'lack-M'agick, Dark Elf Zeera, lovingsiri, zorra101, dragonkeeper106, Aurora Butterfly, handcl, Smashman44, TacticalFan, Icequeenk, SpitFyreForever, arana7, Silkylove13, aoin88, TheHuntresss, tnviolet, angearget1, weathergal08, ilikechocolatemilk27, AuroraxHime, articwolf12, slashlover91, EMReader81, kira690, prof M and Muuwi for your support.


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or NCIS or any of their characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do NOT give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

-o0o-

"Hello Hadrian, and this must be Tim. Pleased to meet you. Hadrian said you had some questions for me?" Healer Roberts greeted them.

"First can you tell me about the baby. Are you sure it's all right, will my magic being blocked affect the baby?" Tim said.

"Let me cast the monitoring spells to confirm what's happened in the last week and then I'll be able to tell you more" the healer said smiling.

Tim watched fascinated as the healer cast spells on his lover receiving back various lights and information, none of which made any sense to Tim. "The baby is developing well as expected and Hadrian is doing well too. Are you feeling better Hadrian?"

"Yes I am. The nausea potions are helping and since Tim arrived home and we talked things have been good" Hadrian said cheerfully.

"I do not think the binding on your magic will harm the baby in any way but I have consulted with my colleagues and none of them have had a case such as yours. Usually it is two wizards in a committed relationship who choose to have this spell cast" The healer said.

"Is there a way to tell?" Tim asked.

"I'm not sure it's ever been done" Healer Roberts said consideringly.

"Can you test levels of magic in a liquid?" Hadrian asked, like testing the strength of an enchantment?"

"Yes why?" the healer asked.

"Well, Tim can't use his magic but the block didn't change his magical core. For me to fall pregnant his magic must also have been in his semen. Is it possible to test his semen and see if it has the same level of magic in it as yours or mine?"

"I'll compare it to mine, you have far more magic than most people" the healer replied, he handed Tim a plastic cup and pointed him in the direction of the bathroom.

Tim blushed and disappeared.

"I take it everything went well when you told him then?" the healer asked Hadrian.

"Eventually" Hadrian replied. "He walked out and went for a walk to think and ended up being called in on a case and was shot and spent two nights in hospital without anyone telling me where he was or if he was okay. And then my three-year-old godson's grandmother passed away and I took custody of him as well. But it's all sorted out now. We've bought a house and we're moving in a couple of weeks."

"Is your godson well?" the healer asked.

"He seems to be coping okay, his hair's been blue a lot more than normal but it's brighter than it was" Hadrian replied.

"His hair is blue?" the healer asked.

"He's a metamorphmagus" Hadrian explained, he doesn't have a lot of control yet so his hair mostly mirrors his emotions unless he's copying someone, blue means sad and dull colours mean feeling flat and depressed."

"Can he change other things?" Roberts asked.

"His hair eyes and skin tone for now. His mother could totally change to become anyone she wanted but Andi said she didn't start changing her body shape until she was eight or nine" Hadrian said. "His father was a werewolf, is there anything I should know about bringing up the child of a werewolf. We couldn't find anything about it in Britain because it was considered illegal for a werewolf to marry and Andi couldn't really ask about it the prejudice against werewolves is so bad that the healers at St Mungo's refuse to treat them. I know the children in the packs all change but I don't know if they were born to change or they've been bitten."

"I don't know Hadrian. I've never had a werewolf as a patient, even here they have some difficulties and tend to go to their own clinics but I'll look into it for you" the healer replied making a note.

"Thank you" Hadrian replied gratefully. "I would appreciate it if you didn't mention his name. I don't want him discriminated against if I can avoid it."

"You haven't told me his name" Healer Roberts replied amused.

"Tim returned and handed over the sample. I think I should compare them while they're fresh I don't know what waiting would do to the detectable magic. I'll return in a few minutes" the healer said leaving the room.

"Everything okay?" Tim asked Hadrian.

"Fine. I was telling Healer Roberts about Teddy. He's going to ask a colleague that works at one of the werewolf clinics about what to expect with the child of a werewolf. Andi really couldn't ask for fear they'd make him register as a werewolf himself, then he couldn't have gone to Hogwarts or been treated in St Mungo's" Hadrian explained. "The laws aren't as strict here and discrimination against a werewolf other than during the full moon is illegal. I don't know how much of it still happens though."

-o0o-

Healer Roberts returned beaming. "The tests I've just done indicate that the binding on your magic doesn't have any affect at all on your semen. In fact, you would have been a fairly strong wizard.

"Is there a way to undo the block?" Tim asked.

"Unfortunately not" Healer Roberts answered.

"Is there any work being done on ways to remove the blocks without causing damage?" Tim asked.

"It's not removing the block that's impossible. It's easy enough to remove in the first couple of months after its placed but after that the build-up of magic makes it impossible to control. The sudden release after so many years would kill you" the healer said gently. "They have started reapproaching parents a year after they blocked the child's magic and asking them to reconsider but after a couple of years removing the blocks risked killing the child or damaging all their magical channels which would cause severe and debilitating pain every time they tried to use their magic anyway. Even if I could safely remove the blocks on your magic you would have difficulties with accidental magic after it being blocked for so long which would make it difficult to live and work in mundane society.

"Then why does the government keep a registry of people who've had their magic blocked if it can't be undone?" Tim asked. "Am I somehow less trustworthy because I had magic even if it has been blocked, or more likely to go insane or something because of the block?"

"It's not you they're keeping track of Tim" healer Roberts replied. "Our ministry keeps track of parents that choose to bind their children's magic, the children's records are mostly kept by default though its useful in cases like this. Though it would be useful if magic ever becomes public knowledge to know which people would respond well to magical healing. What our government wants to do is to make sure that people who are willing to bind someone's magic for their own beliefs or convenience never get into a position in the government where they're officially told about magic. We want to make sure they cannot try to legislate that all mundane born witches and wizards have their magic bound.

Tim burst out laughing. He laughed until tears rolled down his face. Hadrian watched him worriedly as he tried to hold him in his seat.

"My dad was one if the youngest admirals in the fleet. Normally he should have been considered for promotion years ago, in fact he made admiral a couple of months before the new SecNav. I just found it funny that he probably blocked my magic because he planned for me to join the Navy and not only could it be the reason I didn't but it halted his career as well" Tim explained once he'd caught his breath.

Hadrian grinned.

"Tim told me you suffered from debilitating seasickness which affected your work" Healer said. "Would you like me to see if there's anything I can do?"

"I've tried just about everything" Tim replied. "The wrist bands help a little, as does ginger tablets if I take them early enough. Other than that I've a prescription for Maxalon which once I've started throwing up needs to be injected.

The healer cast several diagnosis spells and then a healing spell at each of Tim's ears. "I can't promise that will totally solve the problem but it should help. You might need to come back and have me respell your ears every three or four years if you notice your seasickness getting worse again."

"Thank you so much" Tim said smiling.

"Let me know whether it works and if not we can try something else. A stomach soother potion might have more effect than mundane medicine" the healer said. "You can reschedule your next appointment for four weeks from now Hadrian, everything's going well. Come back in sooner if you have any concerns."

-o0o-

Tim and Hadrian spent as much time as they could with Teddy who was adjusting rather well to living with his godfather though demonstrated quite a few episodes of shyness, not being used to seeing many people as his grandmother received few visitors and hadn't been well enough to leave her home often. Tim couldn't believe he'd fallen for the little boy as quickly as he had and Teddy seemed to like him too. Teddy was so polite and intelligent and so enthusiastic about everything they did with him. It was easy to see he adored Hades and Tim was touched by the child's willingness to accept him as part of their and lack of jealousy when it came to sharing his godfather with Tim. There were times he was upset about his grandmother and became a bit clingy and whiny but really he was acclimatizing amazingly well. Tollie was an invaluable help especially as Hadrian seemed to be spending more hours at work for some reason. (Healer Roberts had banned Hadrian from using his time turner for the remainder of the pregnancy and Hadrian hadn't got around to telling Tim about it yet.)

-o0o-

Tim and Hadrian took Teddy with them to look at the house again once Quincy said it would be safe. It had been over a week since they'd seen the house though Quincy had tried to keep him up to date with pictures and involved them with picking curtain and furnishing fabrics and plants for the garden.

The new wrought iron gates opened automatically as Tim Approached them and they proceeded up the now perfectly smooth gravel drive. The garden looked immaculate, and the windows were so clean they sparkled. Quincy met them as they got out of the car. "The houses is finisheds unless you haves somethings new for Quincy. I hopes you likes it" he told them excitedly.

The interior was warm and welcoming, though the entrance was slightly formal it was more than offset by the ballroom being turned into an indoor rumpus room and children's play area and the lounge though large was filled with delightfully comfortable armchairs as well as a couch easily long enough for Tim to lie comfortably on. Everywhere they went the woodwork and furniture gleamed with cleanliness and it lacked only the finishing touches, family photos, children's drawings and clutter to make it a family home instead of a showpiece. "It's exactly what I imagined a home to feel" Hadrian said delightedly. "It feels as much my home as your flat does."

"It does feel like home already" Tim agreed slightly surprised. They were unknowingly reacting to the quality of the protection wards which made them feel safe and relaxed even though they didn't live there yet. Teddy also loved the large spaces and the shiny wooden floors running around excitedly.

The only hitch came when Teddy found his room set up in exactly the same décor as his room and Andromeda's had been and his current room in Hadrian's flat was. "No no no stay wif Harry" he declared before bursting into tears. "Teddy stay wif Hawwy, Teddy be good boy, stay wif Hawwy" he sobbed heartbrokenly.

"Oh Teddy of course you're staying with me. This is our new home. This is your room and right across the hall is Tim's and my room" Hadrian said scooping him up and taking him across to the master bedroom suite. "See this is Harry's room and Tim's room."

"Hawwy and Tim room?" Teddy said suspiciously, the room didn't look like Harry's room in his flat or Tim's room in the flat downstairs.

"Yes Teddy, we'll be right across the hall if you need us, and Tollie will be here to look after you too. This is our house now, we need to go and get all our stuff and move in, then you'll have all this space to play in and we can play outside too" Tim told him as he joined Hadrian in trying to calm the distraught child.

Hadrian smiled at his lover. "Thanks" he mouthed silently.

"Tollie started popping in with Tim and Hadrian's bed and bedding and soon the room looked a lot like a larger version of Tim's bedroom in his apartment. Tim and Hadrian had chosen new bedding to decorate their room but both shrugged knowing that the little boy's peace of mind was more important at the moment and they could easily redecorate in a month or so once everyone was settled in. Teddy looked around as the room became more familiar his sobs slowly subsiding. "Hawwy and Tim's room" he agreed recognising their belongings. "Hawwy and Tim stay here wiff Teddy."

Tollie had got a team of the Potter elves to help and all Tim and Hadrian's belongings were transported to their new house within the hour and most of them put into their correct place by the end of the day.

"Wow I never thought moving could be so easy" Tim said impressed. "How did Tollie accomplish all this?"

"She had a lot of help" Hadrian replied having caught glimpses of several other elves throughout the day.

-o0o-

"We should get married" Tim suggested as he sat in their new kitchen watching Hadrian make dinner. 

"Is that an idea or a proposal?" Hadrian asked amused and slightly relieved. He'd been trying to get the courage to bring up the subject. 

Tim blushed hurriedly apologised. "Sorry, I guess it totally sucked as a proposal, so let's call it an idea and we can discuss it then I can propose properly if you want me to." 

Hadrian laughed then sobered as he considered the idea. "Is this because of the baby or did you actually want to marry me before you found out?" He asked uncertainly. 

"I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you but there didn't seem to be any hurry to make it official" Tim began. "I guess I'm a little old fashioned, it's going to be hard enough for Teddy and the baby to have two dads instead of a mom. Of course if you want to wait that's fine too." 

"You really want to be a family with us?" Hadrian asked with tears in his eyes. 

"Yes Hades. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I want to be a family. While this isn't exactly the order I would've liked to do things being able to have a baby of our own that's both of ours is a dream come true. I thought I was giving up the chance to have a family to be with you and I was prepared to do that." 

"You didn't think I wanted children?" Hadrian asked. 

"I thought it would be ten years or more before you even thought seriously about it" Tim replied. "You're still in high school hanging out with teenagers. I thought you'd want to go to college then establish a career." 

"I went back to high school because Hogwarts only teaches magical subjects and if I'm going to live in the regular world I need a non-magical education" Hadrian replied. "I haven't been in mainstream education since I was ten." 

"That's got to suck" Tim said sympathetically. "Will you graduate this year?" 

"Yeah they put me into 10th grade and I'm nearly finished though I'm still struggling with American history and politics. Knowing all about the goblin rebellions and what efforts we've tried to take to remove the corruption form the British Ministry of Magic isn't too helpful" Hadrian replied. "Graduating isn't that important to me though, I already have a career I love and more money than I can spend in a lifetime. I just didn't want you to think I was ignorant." 

"Of course I don't think you're ignorant, your insights when we talk about cases have been very useful. I think you must be a great agent" Tim said automatically before his brain caught up with the other things Hadrian had said. "Goblins?" he asked warily. 

"They run the wizarding bank" Hadrian replied. 

"I don't think I want to know" Tim replied. 

"It's a lot more secure than a muggle bank mostly because the entire goblin race is armed and pulling a weapon on any of them will earn you an instant death and attempted theft could get you fed to a dragon" Hadrian said. 

Tim laughed, then realised Hades was serious.

"If you're serious about wanting to marry me and being ready for that, then I'd like to be married before the baby's born. Wizarding inheritance laws can be tricky if we're not and I'd hate for him or her to have to go to court to keep what's rightfully theirs. Not only that the other contenders are pure blood bigots who supported the other side in the war. If hate for my family's money to be used to push through laws that discriminate against muggleborns and half bloods" Hadrian said. "I've been trying to find a way to bring the subject up without making you feel pressured." 

Tim smiled. "I'd like to be married" he said. "Are there any differences between a wizard marriage and a normal marriage? Massachusetts is the only state that allows two men to marry here in the US at present." 

"Gay marriage has been legal in all of the North American wizarding world for decades so we could have a wizarding marriage here at home and a mundane commitment ceremony if you wanted, or I think my family actually owns a house in Boston. That is in Massachusetts, right?" 

"Yes" Tim laughed. "So tell me what's involved in a wizarding marriage." 

"We'll I've only been to one wizard wedding and I've never been to a muggle wedding so I'm not entirely sure. I know there wasn't any divorce in the British wizarding world and if you vow to be faithful then you can't change your mind about that but I'm not sure if that was because all marriage vows were magically enforced or there was a special ceremony to commit your magic or if it was just the law. I'll have to look into it." 

"Do we need a magical marriage for our children to inherit?" Tim asked. "And if so can we have a magical marriage with my magic bound?" 

"I don't know. I'll have to talk to Healer Roberts and my manager at Gringotts" Hadrian said acioing a pen and paper to write down their questions.

-o0o-

Hadrian took Tim to the magical shopping centre to add him to his vault access and get some information about marriage in the wizarding world. Tim was slightly disappointed at first that other than the objects for sale it looked like any other suburban shopping mall. 

"One day I'll take you to Diagonal Alley in London, it has the medieval feel you're looking for" Hadrian promised. "Remember be polite to the goblins and be careful not to show your teeth, even when you smile." 

Tim slapped his lips shut as they entered the bank and his eyes went wide at the sight of the surly little creatures. 

"Good morning. I would like to speak with an account manager about British inheritance law" Hadrian said politely but firmly. 

"We don't have time for British issues, go to your own branch" the goblin snapped. 

"My vaults were moved here" Hadrian replied may I speak with my manager, perhaps he'll be motivated to find the information I need or I'll move all my holdings into the mundane banking system" 

"Name" the goblin demanded scowling. 

"Hadrian James Potter Black Evander Peveral Gryffindor Slytherin" Hadrian said firmly. 

The goblin spoke in his own language for a moment and must have received an answer for he said much more respectfully. "Your manager will see you now. Follow Bonegrinder." 

"Are they like this in England too?" Tim asked quietly. "If so I don't understand why you trust them with your money?" 

"Goblins are honest and honourable far beyond most humans and money kept in the wizarding world is taxed at a much lower rate" Hadrian replied. "They're just not the friendliest of people and in their culture wasting time is considered more rude than skipping the pleasantries and getting straight to the point." 

The account manager was able to tell them the answer they were looking for. The House of Potter, Evander and Peveral will accept heirs from a mundane marriage that has been registered with a wizard government or Gringotts. The house of Black, Gryffindor and Slytherin require magical marriage vows. The house of Black will not recognise any heirs from a marriage to a muggle or squib regardless of the vows" he reported. 

"That's fine Tim's not a muggle, what about muggle born?" Hadrian asked. 

"So long as they have magic to hold the vows" the goblin replied.

"Tim's magic was bound when his parents refused to let him attend a magical school. Will that be a problem for the vows?" Hadrian asked.

The goblin frowned and rumaged in a drawer, hold this and vow to tell me the truth for the next five minutes" he said thrusting what looked like a short stick in Tim's direction.

Tim if you do this be very careful that everything you say afterwards is the absolute truth, don't guess without saying you're guessing because you're not sure or try to prevaricate at all" Hadrian warned urgently. "It might be better not to say anything at all but remember that gestures are a form of communication too."

Tim took the stick and made the promise. A dull flash of white surrounded him for a moment.

"He can make the vows" the account manager stated. "Anything else?" 

"I'd like to visit my vaults is it safe for Tim to accompany me?" Hadrian asked. 

"So long as he remains in your presence" the goblin said dismissively. "Tell Bonegrinder to take you to the vaults. I trust you have your keys."

"Thankyou" Hadrian said pulling Tim hurriedly out the door where they were met by Bonegrinder. 

They spent the rest of the morning looking through the old books and things in the vault. Hadrian called Quincy to send an elf to bring some bookshelves so they could start to organise the contents.

"I'se can but library trunks will bes better Master Hadrian. They's protect the bookses better" the elf said subserviently. 

Time spent discussing the renovation of the house had taught him that the master valued unsolicited opinions but a lifetime of training still made him hesitant at times. 

"Is there any way other than opening them all to tell if any of these are library trunks?" 

Quincy scanned them with his magic. 

"That one, that one and that one be" he said bringing them over to Hadrian and Tim. He then sorted the rest of the trunks into two piles. "They's have bookses but not be library trunkses" he said gesturing to the smaller pile. 

Hadrian grinned. "Thank you Quincy. Great job you've saved us a lot of time searching." Even better the library trunks had a search feature so Hadrian was able to ask it for books on marriage laws and ceremonies.

A/N: Thank you to tat5934, julschristine975, xDarklightx, TobyDR, Bella216, Almonda, Merlenyn, acherongoddess, Locket1, Maben00, Village-Mystic, DS2010, serenityselena, Silvermane1, Gracie15Trowa, Kourtney Uzu Yato, charm13insomnia, lilly-flower15, buterflypuss, gabrieljuarezl, mayawene, Rori Potter, Dedicated4reading, T-Loki, Lady Ashlynne, Pearl17, BunnyButtons, CharityLynn02, kenbotkt, Fasala, Glossette, ice123, Fountainwind, animeaddict15, Beletharatowen, Fee-der-Nacht, strfire, Krizz, KateLucyMathews, swathy, Novakane, rene3037769, danoc and tanjagronforspalmroth for your support.


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter 27

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or NCIS or any of their characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do NOT give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

-o0o-

Hades was amused to find out that in the wizarding world the public marriage ceremony was largely for show the true bonding between the couple could occur in private as there were several rituals where the vows didn't require witnesses. "So we can have a muggle wedding then exchange vows in private and register the marriage with the bank" Hadrian excitedly told his fiancé.

"What are the vows?" Tim asked.

"It depends on the couple and what they want from the marriage, from what I've read it sounds a lot like you can vow whatever you want. Traditionally that was love honour and obey forsaking all others but it doesn't have to be.

"I don't think I'd want to promise to obey you" Tim said quietly.

Hadrian grinned, "That's okay I wouldn't promise to obey you either. What do you feel comfortable promising? Remember that magic won't let you change your mind and break your vows."

Tim looked through the book. "I like this one, what do you think?" he asked passing over the book.

"I love it but that's a lot to promise Tim. You don't have to promise me that much" Hadrian said awed by the depth of commitment Tim wanted to make.

"It feels right" Tim replied.

"Yeah" Hadrian agreed. "It does. Did you look at the actual ceremonies?"

"I was more interested in the vows but I can say I don't want to use the druid ceremony" Tim replied, referring to an old ceremony where the marrying couple consummated their marriage while the druids stood in a circle around them reciting druid blessings. "Certainly not if I'm going to invite my team, friends or family."

Hadrian laughingly agreed. "Who do you want to invite?" he asked.

"I'm not sure, not my family except maybe my grandmother Penny and perhaps Sarah, the others would cause a scene if they agreed to come at all. Gibbs and perhaps Ziva, Tony, Ducky, Jimmy and Abby. What about you?"

"Just Teddy" Hadrian replied a little sad that he couldn't invite his friends.

"You haven't made any friends since you've been here?" Tim asked worriedly.

"I have friendly acquaintances but nobody important other than you" Hadrian replied smiling. "I'm a little disappointed that I can't invite my best friends from home but it isn't possible."

"None of them would keep your location a secret?" Tim asked.

"Kingsley and Robbards both would though they're more mentors than a friends, and Neville would but his wife wouldn't and he won't come without her. Likewise, I think Hermione would keep my secret if she could but she couldn't come without telling Ron where she was going and I wouldn't trust him not to tell his Mum and his sister. Ron's incredibly homophobic and he and Ginny gave me the impression that the rest of the wizarding world would be too, or perhaps they just wanted me to believe it was so I wouldn't consider dating or marrying a man. I don't know how any of the others would react to me marrying you and I don't want to risk our wedding day being marred by prejudice and hatred. Neville and Hannah would never manage to pass for muggles either, not with how observant Gibbs is."

"Tony and Ziva are observant too" Tim agreed. "But that goblin we spoke to didn't have any problems with you marrying a man, he said our children could inherit so maybe the wizarding world isn't as homophobic as you thought it was."

"No those inheritance traditions predate the male pregnancy spell by hundreds of years. It wouldn't have crossed their minds to exclude children carried by a man" Hadrian said sighing.

"So we need to have a completely mundane ceremony if you're team mates are present, what about this one for the magical ceremony. I checked with the goblins. It's legal though not widely known and we could do it ourselves."

Tim read it though. "This would be every parent's nightmare" he said.  
"You have to truly mean every word for it to work but yeah, in a society that arranges marriages for their children at birth like the pure bloods do it would be a nightmare" Hadrian agreed then grinned. "Maybe I should send it to someone who could pass it along to the students." Anything that interfered with the old families maintaining their belief in pureblood supremacy was worth it in his opinion though this would create a lot more problems for the students involved than most of them would realise.

"If we choose this one we could do it tonight or tomorrow and then wait until after the baby's born for the mundane ceremony if you like. That way we won't have to hurry through the planning before your pregnancy starts to show" Tim suggested.

"There's a charm that can be placed on clothes to protect and hide a pregnancy. In fact, in wizarding Britain it's considered terribly crass to appear visibly pregnant in public even for women" Hadrian replied. "The problem as I see it is finding a date either before or after the baby is born, that you can be certain you and the team won't be working to hold the wedding on without telling your big boss so he could schedule you off."

"We're guaranteed to be off the weekend after Christmas until New Year's Day if you think we can organise a wedding that quickly" Tim said.

"You'd be surprised how quickly things can be organised with magic, house elves and an unlimited budget" Hadrian said smirking.

"So we need to decide what we want so the elves can get started. Do you want a civil commitment ceremony here in DC somewhere or a legal wedding in Boston?"

"The idea of being legally married appeals to me. I know we'd be married in your world but I'd like to be married in the mundane world as well" Tim replied. "I don't care if it's a full ceremony or a quick trip to the courthouse there doesn't seem much point if it's not legal. Are you sure we can get married in Boston without being residents of Massachusetts though?"

"My family have been paying housing taxes in Massachusetts for the last two hundred years, I've been paying them since I was one. I own a house there that makes me a resident in my eyes and I can always confundus the clerk if they don't agree" Hadrian declared.

"Okay Boston it is" Tim agreed smiling. "What sort of ceremony do you want?"

"I don't really care, something fairly small and intimate. I'm not at all religious so a secular service would suit me though I'm happy to use religious marriage rites if that's important to you. What sort of ceremony do you want?"

"Something that doesn't make the newspapers. Gay marriage is still pretty new so if we do something too extravagant then it will probably attract press attention" Tim replied. "I'm not religious either. It's the marriage itself that I want the party part of the wedding isn't important to me."

"Do you want to go and see the house in Boston to see if having something at home is possible? It will be too cold to be outside and I'm not sure how big the house is, though the taxes indicate something fairly expensive" Hadrian suggested.

"That might be a good way to keep it private" Tim agreed. "It's a pity we can't get married here in the ballroom."

"Please don't say that in front of Quincy or the elves or they'll try to find a way to transport the whole house to Massachusetts for the wedding" Hadrian begged.

Tim laughed.

"I'll go to the bank and get the keys tomorrow and we can go on Saturday if you don't have a case" Hadrian suggested. "You can have your first experience of portkey travel."

"How are we going to get everyone there for the wedding, it's a six-hour drive to Boston and we can't portkey my team and I don't feel comfortable asking them all to pay for their flights" Tim asked mentally reviewing his guest list.

"I can pay for the flights or maybe charter a plane once we know numbers" Hadrian said casually.

"Gibbs, Tony, Ziva, Abby, Ducky and Jimmy and Penny" Tim listed.

"What about your sister Sarah?" Hadrian asked.

"I don't know if I can trust her not to tell Mom and Dad" Tim said thoughtfully.

"I could spell the secret so she literally can't tell them" Hadrian offered. "Though that would mean nobody could tell anyone except us."

"So nobody could tell the director?" Tim asked.

"Yeah but I was talking about just our wedding" Hadrian said thinking hard. "I could make our whole relationship a secret but it wouldn't affect anyone who already knows so don't rely on it. The problem is that Gibbs would notice if he couldn't tell someone about the wedding and would question it."

"He wouldn't try to tell anyone if I asked him not to" Tim said.

"No but I'm fairly sure the others would notice too and the last time I spelled a secret it took less than twenty-four hours for the first person I told to realise they couldn't blab."

"Your ex-fiancé?" Tim asked tipped off by the look on Hades' face.

"Yeah and she got really pissed off that I spelled her instead of trusting her in spite of the fact she proved she couldn't be trusted" Hadrian added disgustedly.

"More than a little hypocritical" Tim retorted.

"I know this isn't very romantic but do you want to go shopping for rings together?" Tim asked. "Or would you prefer me to choose a ring and propose?"

Hadrian smiled. "There's a lot of family rings in my vaults if you want to look there first. I'll understand if you don't like any of them they're probably really old fashioned."

"We can look but I kind of like the idea of matching rings and most of the ring sets in your vault will probably be male-female sets" Tim replied.

"Yeah I like the idea of matching rings too. I haven't really looked though the rings in the vault but you're probably right. Do you have a jeweller in mind?" Hadrian said.

"I've never gone looking for engagement rings before" Tim replied. "You're the one with experience. Did you give Ginny a family ring?"

"No she wanted something new" Hadrian replied. "Now I realise it might have been because using my family rings wold make me the dominant partner in spite of her blood being purer. And a lot of the women's engagement rings would be spelled to make her completely faithful, not just sexually, until the marriage vows."

"And you want me to wear one of these rings?" Tim asked surprised.

"Not without getting someone to investigate what charms are on it" Hadrian said hurriedly. "I wouldn't trick you into something like that. We can get something new if you're worried."

"I'm not worried about you trying to control me, how about you have a look through your vault when you go to get the keys and I'll take a look if you find something you like that you think is safe for me" Tim suggested.

"We should look for a celebrant too" Tim said looking on line at celebrants in the Weston area of Boston. "They spoke to several over the phone and made an appointment Sunday morning with the two they liked best.

"Book us a room for Saturday night I don't know whether the house will be habitable" Hadrian suggested while Tim was still on the computer.

"Can't we just portkey home and go back Sunday morning?" Tim asked.

"If we really wanted to but I think you'll be glad not to after you try it" Hadrian replied.

Hadrian used his time-turner to repeat part of the day on Friday so he could spend hours in his vaults looking through the jewellery. Having put off doing anything more than a cursory tour through the vaults when he learned of his inheritance after the war, he was excited about what he might find. He'd taken a tip from muggle law enforcement's handling of crime scenes and Dumbledore's final illness and was wearing latex gloves to make sure he didn't trigger any curses. Tim was right that most of the matching rings were heterosexual sets but he did find a couple of male rings he liked and wanted to show Tim. Several of them felt Dark even through the gloves and he put them aside to be assessed by the curse-breakers and potentially destroyed to protect the generations to come.

"Did you find anything interesting in your vault?" Tim asked.

"There were only two potential ring sets I liked. The curse breakers said there are protection charms on the rings but nothing that would restrict your personal choices in any way. This one's a replica of the Potter head of house ring and is about four hundred years old and I'm not sure exactly why it was made, perhaps the original ring was lost for a time or someone other than the true heir wanted to pass themselves off as the head of house. I got the Potter family diaries from that era so I'm going to read through and try to find out the story. The other set is a mix of gold, rose gold and platinum woven into a Celtic knot."

"Let's see them then" Tim said interrupting Hadrian's nervous rambling.

Hadrian handed the rings over and took the disillusionment off his head of house ring. "Feel free to tell me if you don't like either of them. You'll have to look at it on your hand for the rest of your life."

Tim dismissed the Celtic knot ring as looking a bit too girly and difficult to keep clean and not catch on things, and looked down at the exquisitely detailed gold ring with the large blood red ruby. Hades had said it was a copy but it was still 400 years old and one of the largest stones he'd seen set in a ring. "It must be worth an absolute fortune" he said in awe.

"Don't worry about that. The charms on it make it nearly impossible to damage or lose. Do you like it? Is it too big? Would it get in the way as you draw your gun? I won't be upset if you want something more simple. It is a bit much. It took me a while to get used to the weight of my head of house ring and I wear it disillusioned most of the time. I just wanted you to have the choice of it if you wanted it."

Tim slipped it onto his finger and then went and got his gun and holster out of the safe practicing drawing his weapon several times. "It doesn't get in the way of my gun" he said, he then moved to his desk and typed for a moment before grabbing a note pad and writing himself a note. It doesn't get in the way at all. I like it Hades. It's uniquely you. I'd be happy to wear this ring if that's what you want. But you already wear your head of house ring. Don't you want a wedding ring too?"

"This ring is a magical composite of all my head of house rings. I can separate out the Potter ring and wear it on the left hand" Hadrian said taking the ring off and showing Tim how as soon as he wasn't wearing it, it became six separate rings one almost identical to the one Tim was still wearing. "When I'm wearing it I can choose which ring it looks like."

"Did your father wear that ring?" Tim asked.

"No" Hadrian said regretfully. "My Grandparents died only weeks before my parents did and we were already in hiding. Dad couldn't get to the bank to claim his inheritance and become head of house Potter. My Grandfather wore it and his father and so on. I'm the nineteenth Lord Potter to wear this ring, well one of these rings."

"It's lucky it fits" Tim commented, looking at the ring sitting perfectly on the fourth finger of his left hand.

"It has a sizing charm on it. It will fit any finger you put it on" Hadrian replied.

Tim pulled it off and tried it on his other fingers watching the ring resize. "That's great. Can you apply it to clothing?" He asked eagerly.

Hadrian smiled fondly at his lover's awe for the simple magic. "Unfortunately cloth doesn't hold the charms very well. I could resize something for you but I'd have to reapply the charm probably every week or two if it's a natural fabric in good condition. Every day or two for synthetic blends, and rags like my cousin's cast-offs I was wearing when we met only held the charm for a couple of hours. And the more times you've cast the charm on the same item the less it will work" he explained.

"I guess I should've known that from how you were dressed the day we met. I think I would have noticed if your clothes seemed to grow five sizes, and you wouldn't have worn them like they were if you had a choice" Tim said nodding.

"Yeah and trust me the embarrassment of wearing pants tied up with string is nothing to the embarrassment of having your pants fall down in public when you don't notice the magic fail quickly enough when they suddenly stop fitting" Hadrian said dryly.

Tim chuckled slightly.

-o0o-

The first thing Gibbs did when Tim returned to desk duty after a week off was send him down to Ducky to check he was well enough to be there without damaging his shoulder further. Tim had expected this and arrived early in order to get the examination over before work hours started.

"It's healing remarkably well" Dr Mallard said. "I'm sure you've been using a computer or typewriter at home. Any twinges of pain when you do?"

"No Ducky it's been fine" Tim replied.

"We'll I will see you in a week or two to clear you for the field" Dr Mallard stated.

"A week or two!" Tim protested, he knew with the potions he'd taken the shoulder was actually fully healed though Hadrian had cast a glamour on it to make it look more normal for the healing time it would have taken the mundane way.

"You wouldn't want to return to the field too early and undo all the healing" Dr Mallard said firmly. "How have things been with Hadrian and Theodore?"

"Teddy's settling in pretty well. He has bad moments of course but he loves being with his godfather and Hades has taken a month off to help him adjust" Tim replied.

"And you're happy with the two of them?" Ducky asked.

"Happier than I've ever been before Ducky" Tim said seriously.

Ducky could hear the honesty in that statement and let it drop. It seemed Jethro was correct in his assessment. "I'll tell Jethro, two weeks. I don't want you risking that shoulder" he said dismissing Tim and returning to his paperwork.

"Thanks Dr Mallard" Tim said formally putting on his shirt and leaving.

He reached the elevator just as Gibbs came out of Abby's lab and joined him, and wasn't surprised when his boss pushed the emergency stop button.

"Boss?" Tim asked.

"How long?" Gibbs asked.

"Ducky said a week or two" Tim replied hedging slightly.

"I couldn't find any information about your friend Black" Gibbs commented.

"Oh God please tell me you didn't ask Abby to investigate him" Tim moaned.

"She doesn't know him?" Gibbs asked concerned.

"Abby and I aren't really friends outside of work" Tim said carefully. "She drags me along to some godawful concerts when she hasn't got anyone else to go with but she isn't interested in anything I'm doing."

Gibbs nodded thoughtfully, that agreed with the way Hadrian had described Tim's relationship with the technical analyst.

"So tell me why I couldn't find anything on your friend?" he asked.

"I can't give you details because it's classified above your pay grade let alone mine." Tim replied. "And before you ask yes I know this from sources other than Hadrian himself."

He pushed the button to get the elevator moving and didn't say anything else until they arrived at the bullpen. Tim got out and Gibbs continued up to talk to the director.

-o0o-

Tim walked into the bull pen with a grin on his face. "Morning Tony, Good morning Ziva, where's the Boss?" he as if he didn't already know, hoping they'd know why he was going up to the director.

"Upstairs with Jenny?" Ziva replied. "We were talking about our plans for New Year seeing we're off rotation after bagging day"

"Boxing Day Ziva" Tony corrected. "So what about it McGeek have you got a date for New Year's Eve. Or a hot night with playing Elflord?"

"Actually Tony I'm getting married the weekend before New Year's Eve so I'll be on my honeymoon" Tim said.

Tony burst out laughing. "That's a good one McVirgin!"

Ziva also laughed. "You need to make it somewhat believable if you want to prank us McGee."

"Where's Gibbs" Abby asked bouncing out of the lift.

"Hey Abby, McLiar here says he's getting married before New Year's" Tony called.

"Very funny Tim. You're taking me to the 'Screaming Dead' concert New Year's Day. If you didn't want to go you should have said so instead of making up silly stories."

Tim sighed. "I'm not. I really am getting married on December 28th. And if you remember I did tell you I wasn't going to take you to the concert. Multiple times" he said.

"You're taking me to that concert Tim. You promised. Don't try to weasel out now" Abby said.

"What's going on here?" Gibbs said as he came down the stairs.

"Gibbs Tim's trying to welch out in a promise to take me to the concert" Abby pouted.

"Abby I never promised to take you to that concert and I've been telling you for months I'm had plans for New Year" Tim said frustrated.

"Yeah Boss McSingle tried to tell us he's getting married" Tony said laughing.

"Haven't I taught you better than that?" Gibbs said smirking at Tim.

"No Boss" Tim said seriously.

Gibbs looked at him curiously but decided to let the subject wait until he could talk to Tim alone without arousing the suspicions of the rest of the team.

Later that day Gibbs decided to reinterview a witness in the case. "McGee you're with me" he barked.

Tim jumped up slightly worried and hurried after his boss joining him in the elevator.

He sighed when Gibbs hit the emergency stop button.

"Okay spill. I thought you were dating Special Agent Black but I wasn't aware it was serious" Gibbs demanded. "Is this a reaction to being shot?" Gibbs demanded. "You don't want to make life decisions like that Tim. I've done that at it didn't end well."

"We've been all but living together for over two years. My injury did clarify things but no it's not just a reaction to almost losing my life. My one regret if I was to die tomorrow would be that we didn't have more time together. Hades has recently taken over custody of his godson and we're to be a family." Tim explained. He pulled the invitations out of his pocket sorting through and held one out to Gibbs while returning the rest to his pocket. "I trust him with my life and love him with everything I am. We'd like you to be there."

"I'd be honoured" Gibbs replied.

"Thanks boss" Tim said quietly.

"Do you want me to talk to Tony, Ziva and Abby?" Gibbs offered having noticed that the other invitations were for the rest of the team.

"If you could talk Abby out of harassing me about the concert that would be great but after their reaction this morning I don't want them at the wedding" Tim replied sad but resolved.

"I understand that" Gibbs said nodding. "And for the record I asked Fornell to look up Black not Abby."

"Fornell should have been able to find something, Hades consults for the FBI. He's British Secret Service and was seconded to the FBI as an alternative to going into witness protection after taking out an entire terrorist organisation" Tim said frowning.

Gibbs frowned too and headed out to call Fornell in private to find out why his old friend hadn't been straight with him.

A/N: Thank you to Almonda, Twiki2500, Aeryun, Dedicated4reading, DS2010, Maben00, Rike1Rike2, Rike1Rike2, acherongoddess, serenityselena, Merlenyn, charm13insomnia, xDarklightx, lilly-flower15, Rori Potter, buterflypuss, Firehedgehog, Gracie15Trowa, Village-Mystic , mithrilandt, Silvermane1, Syla07, Sorabelle, DaVinci66, BlackCorruption13, Azuyami, Mallymkun the Dormouse, Akirapharis, OreXyon, 1392, Dracaro, aulin, kyle. , Shiroiro tora, Linanimir Foxesire, sorrena, Meysha, Lucifers girl and for your support.


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter 28

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or NCIS or any of their characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do NOT give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

-o0o-

Hadrian looked up in concern when Tim arrived home and threw the invitations on the coffee table in front of him before sinking onto the couch and burying his head in his hands.

"What happened Tim?" Hadrian asked hurrying over to hug the older man.

"I told Tony and Ziva I was getting married and they laughed. And Abby was there and she went off about that wretched concert again and tried to get me in trouble with Gibbs. None of them believed me" Tim said. "Tony spent the rest of the day calling me McVirgin, McSingle and McLiar."

Hadrian squeezed him slightly. "At least they can't come back later and be upset that you didn't tell them. How did Gibbs react?" he asked practically. It was Gibbs he was most concerned about.

"Gibbs said he'd be honoured to be there" Tim said. "He wasn't too thrilled, with three ex-wives harassing him he's not too big on marriage but if I was sure that's what I wanted he'd support me."

"Did he mention 'don't ask, don't tell'?" Hadrian asked.

"No it only officially applies to Navy officers. He did suggest I keep one of the team as my second emergency medical proxy in case you can't be reached" Tim said.

"So I'd still be listed first if they can contact me?" Hadrian asked.

"Yeah you'd be listed as next of kin and primary medical contact, so if something happens you would be allowed in even if visiting's limited to family only" Tim confirmed.

"Don't talk like that Tim. I don't want to see you hurt" Hadrian said.

"You and Teddy would also be listed as a dependent on my employment record so that NCIS would know they have to give me more time to relocate if they transfer me. And provide married accommodation until we can organise our own" Tim said.

"How likely is it that you'll be transferred?" Hadrian asked.

"I don't know" Tim said thoughtfully. "The current director seems to want to give Gibbs his own way with the team but if we got a new director then things might change. My seasickness prevents them from sending me out as an agent afloat and the next move I make should be a promotion which I could have the right to turn down if I wanted to."

"Don't turn down a promotion for me or the kids' sake. We can always keep this house to come back to and buy a new one elsewhere" Hadrian said kissing his fiancé. "I never want to hold you back Tim. That's not what marriage is about. With magical transportation I could live just about anywhere and commute, I'll transfer back to working out of London if we move somewhere that's closer to England than DC."

"Okay, I promise I'll discuss any offers with you" Tim compromised.

"Tim, what about Ducky, he wasn't there laughing at you?" Hadrian asked.

"After what happened in the bullpen I didn't have the heart to try to ask him" Tim said.

"From everything you've told me I doubt he'd laugh at you, it always sounded like he sees all of you as his family. You should ask him tomorrow" Hadrian said gently.

"He seemed worried about our relationship when he checked out my shoulder this morning" Tim said thoughtfully.

"Worried how? Does he suspect I'm a wizard?" Hadrian asked unconcerned. "He'd be concerned if he thinks I haven't told you."

"I don't know. Just more curious than he usually is. I think he picked up the awkwardness that I didn't really know Teddy very well or how to look after him, as if you'd been keeping us apart for some reason" Tim said considering.

"If he realised Teddy lives with me and you didn't know him he may have thought our relationship is quite new" Hadrian suggested. "I think you should explain when you invite him."

-o0o-

The next morning Tim text Gibbs to explain where he was and went down to Autopsy on his way to the bullpen.

"Timothy good to see you but I don't have a guest of yours, do I?" Ducky greeted him. "Is your shoulder paining you?"

"No it feels great. I'm ready to get back in the field. I even requalified with my firearm with it yesterday" Tim reported.

"But you're left handed" Jimmie said.

"Gibbs likes us to qualify with both hands, you never know when you're going to need it" Tim explained.

"So what can I do for you?" Ducky asked.

"Ducky I just wanted to talk to you and Jimmy" Tim said nervously.

"Are you feeling alright" Ducky said reaching to take his temperature and pulse rate.

"I'm fine Ducky. I'm well. I just wanted to tell you something" Tim replied. "I came down to invite you to my wedding" Tim said bracing himself for their reactions.

"I assume you're marrying the friend I met the other night. My dear boy isn't this a bit sudden? Are you sure you're not overreacting to being shot?" Ducky asked.

"Just because you hadn't met him before doesn't mean he's new in my life Ducky" Tim replied frowning.

"You mean you really are getting married?" Jimmie asked.

"Yes" Tim answered tersely.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean it like that" Jimmie said apologetically. "Abby was complaining about you telling her you were getting married as an excuse for not going to a concert with her yesterday. It didn't sound like something you'd do but I didn't know you were seeing anyone."

"Yes Abby, Tony and Ziva refused to believe me" Tim replied. "Do you believe me?" Tim asked him.

"You would have admitted it if you were trying to trick them and it would be a pretty stupid prank given that you'd eventually have to produce a wife or admit you lied" Jimmy replied showing Tim the logical brain that they often overlooked.

"Did you invite them to the wedding?" Ducky asked.

"No. I was going to but after they all laughed and made jokes how impossible it would be for me to have a relationship I changed my mind" Tim replied.

"I can understand that" Jimmie said supportively.

"I hope you haven't been too hasty in dismissing them" Ducky said. "I'm sure neither Abigail, Anthony or Ziva meant to hurt your feelings like they did."

"We're getting married on New Year's Day and I'd really like you both to come" Tim said handing each of them an invitation. "It's in Boston Massachusetts but Hades is happy to pay for your flights and there's plenty of room at the house so you wouldn't need to pay accommodation. Gibbs is going."

"You invited Gibbs and not Tony and Ziva, do you have a death wish?" Jimmie blurted.

"Gibbs didn't laugh and call me a liar" Tim retorted. "It's going to be a very small wedding anyway."

"Are your family coming?" Ducky asked.

"No my father doesn't approve. It's fine, Hadrian doesn't have any family other than Teddy either" Tim said dismissively.

"You newlyweds won't want us staying at the house" Ducky protested.

"It's a great old plantation house designed for multiple generations to live together, you can have one wing and Hades and I will have the other. You won't be in our way at all" Tim replied reassuringly.

"So your girlfriend comes from serious money?" Jimmy asked.

"That's not why I'm marrying him but yes Hadrian has a lot of money. It comes from being the sole heir of what was once a large and successful extended family" Tim said solemnly.

"I'd love to come to your wedding. I look forward to it" Ducky said.

"Will it be a big formal fancy wedding?" Jimmy asked.

"No just the three of us, Gibbs and my grandmother if the letter reaches her in time, Hades and his godson Teddy and perhaps a few friends. Hades is kind of here in America in hiding after taking out the majority of a terrorist organization in Britain" Tim explained.

Ducky looked at his invitation then sent Jimmy off to do inventory. The young medical examiner's assistant rolled his eyes at his bosses back as he left them alone to talk. "I'd love to come" he called grinning at Tim.

"He's Harry Potter? THE Harry Potter?" Ducky asked quietly.

"You're a wizard?" Tim asked surprised.

"No my mother was a squib. She was treated better than most squibs by her family and they kept in touch with her brother after she left their world" Ducky explained. "We moved here when squib families began being targeted during the first war."

Tim nodded. He'd recently read quite a bit of history about both the Voldemort wars."

"You understand that the Potters and the Blacks are old pureblood families? They won't accept this easily" Ducky asked worriedly.

"Hades is the only Potter and his godson Teddy is the only living member of the Black family that Hades hasn't already pissed off beyond repair by trying to put them all in jail" Tim replied dismissively.

"That doesn't mean that some of the heirlooms won't still have curses on them. You did insist on a new wedding ring?" Ducky asked anxiously.

"No but Hades had a Gringotts curse breaker remove everything but the anti-theft and protection enchantments" Tim said reassuringly. "I've tried it on and it didn't restrict my behaviour in any way."

"It wouldn't if Hadrian was allowing the behaviour. That doesn't mean he wouldn't be able to control you if he wanted to" Ducky warned.

"Hades isn't like that Ducky. He was really careful when we looked in the vaults not to let me even touch anything that wasn't perfectly safe and he would gladly have bought a new ring if I'd wanted. It was my decision to wear the family ring. Besides the ring wasn't designed for a consort. Hades thinks it was designed to fool people into thinking a minor member of the family was Lord Potter so the real lord could be safely hidden away. The story's in one of the old journals. There's no record of it ever having been used as a wedding or betrothal ring before. It's safe Ducky."

"I'm glad my boy" Dr Mallard said genuinely relieved.

-o0o-

Hadrian made a trip to London and met with his bosses at MI7 to update them on his various consults, and then with Head Auror Robbards and Minister Shacklebolt who were interested in the Auror training Hadrian had done in America and various procedures they used. He got caught up in a discussion of the roles of the obliviators.

"They blend in with the mundanes and very rarely have to obliviate anybody as a result of an Auror's actions. In fact, all obliviations are reviewed by their ethics committee and an Auror would be severely reprimanded if their actions led to an avoidable incident where muggles needed to be obliviated. Even most of the criminals try to avoid magic in public due to the severity of the punishments handed down for it" Hadrian said.

"Yes their figures for muggle obliviations are unbelievably low. This extra training and severe punishment system can't account for all of the difference though" Robbards said thoughtfully.

"The children are allowed supervised access to their wand from the age of eight which seems to reduce instances of accidental magic" Hadrian said. "Of course it helps that the muggleborn children aren't in mainstream schooling for that extra three years too."

"That would be a help" Kingsley agreed remembering how many times he had to send multiple obliviations teams to a school after an incident in the playground.

"So you're enjoying your time over there?" Kingsley asked.

"I really love it. I feel so free in America and I enjoyed working for Auror Clancy and his teams" Hadrian replied.

"Past tense? I thought you said you weren't coming home?" Robbards asked.

Hadrian blushed in embarrassment "I'm not" he said. "I'm getting married."

"That wouldn't stop you from working as an auror" Robbards argued.

"I'm on twelve months' compulsory leave from regular duties, though I'll still be called in for anything that seems to have a British influence behind it. Did you ever hear the details of the curse I was hit with a couple of months before I left England?" Hadrian asked with his hand on his international portkey and the activation phrase on the tip of his tongue.

"Yes" Kingsley replied. "Oh… I suppose congratulations are in order" he added doubtfully.

Hadrian smiled. "Yes" he told his old friend and current British Minister for Magic. Of course, I suppose I could be arrested for it if I decided to stay here."

"You've already been officially cleared of aby involvement in casting that curse" Kingsley reassured him. "But there would be people who call for your arrest when they find out."

"With Molly Bloody Weasley leading them no doubt" Hadrian said cynically.

"It would however put an end to the problem of Ginevra trying to force you into marriage" Robbards said grinning as he caught onto what the other two were talking about.

"Well best of luck Harry. We'll visit you next time we need to meet" Kingsley said.

"Thank you sir" Hadrian replied.

-o0o-

Casting a glamour before leaving the minister's office he made his way to Hermione's.

"Hey Hermione. Can I take you out for lunch?" he asked.

Hermione looked up to see a stranger smiling at her fondly. "Harry?" she whispered uncertainly.

"Yeah I had a meeting with Kingsley and Robbards" Hadrian explained.

"Let me call Ron and…" she trailed off seeing Harry wince. "What's wrong?"

"I was hoping to catch up with you on your own" Harry said bluntly.

"Okay" Hermione said frowning. She got up and moved awkwardly to the door.

"May I transfigure your clothes into mundane attire?" Harry asked. "I have a craving for a good English curry."

"Okay" Hermione said smiling. "I could go a good butter chicken myself but I'll transfigure my own clothes." They walked in silence until they were out in muggle London. "How have you been Harry?" Hermione asked.

"Great" Hadrian said enthusiastically. "I've just about finished muggle secondary school and am thinking about whether I want to take a couple of college courses. Work has been quiet, not a peep out of any death eater's or sympathisers in my area…"

"Does that mean you're coming home soon" Hermione interrupted him eagerly.

"I doubt I'll ever live or work permanently in magical England, Hermione" Harry said earnestly. "I just feel like I need to be constantly checking over my shoulder and the bloody paper reports every move I make. Your book didn't help with that either. Why'd you do it Hermione?"

Hermione flushed in shame. "I just got so angry about all the lies being told and people suggested that I should write a book telling people the truth, and it has helped. There aren't anywhere near as many lies printed these days."

"My friends said it was well written and from what they've asked it seems pretty accurate" Hadrian commented not admitting that he'd tried to read it himself and it had upset him too much to finish. "I wish you hadn't written it though. You had to have known I wouldn't want you to."

"I had my doubts but Ginny was spreading such horrible rumours and Ron heard about how much money they were offering me to write it. He said that we needed the truth out there to stop all the lies going around so you could come back. We're going to need the money. He won't let me work after the baby comes" Hermione said guiltily.

Hadrian bit his tongue and firmly reminded himself that this woman in front of him had saved his life on multiple occasions and had never let him down before. She'd always had his best interests in mind even when the outcome wasn't always to his liking. He couldn't begrudge her the pleasure of being a successful author, not when she looked so stressed and upset over giving up her career. "When's the baby due?" He asked. "Are you keeping well?"

"Early January" Hermione replied. "The heartburn's a killer and I'm awfully tired all the time now."

Hadrian felt guiltily relieved that Hermione wouldn't be able to portkey to America for his wedding even if he had been willing to invite them.

"You shouldn't still be working" Hadrian said surprised. Like most British witches Hermione was using glamour a to hide her pregnancy. "Keeping that glamour up for eight hours a day must really drain your magic." He pulled his wand and carefully cast a notice me not charm around their table before casting a magical core diagnosis charm. "You really need to stop using so much magic" he scolded.

"Can your charm tell if the baby is magical?" Hermione asked.

"Of course but hasn't your healer already told you that" Hadrian said confused. Hermione should have known months ago that her baby was a witch or wizard.

"I haven't seen a healer recently" Hermione confessed. "Molly said everything's going well and I didn't need to."

"Hermione I'd like to drag you straight to St Mungo's, or better yet off on a vacation so you can rest. Your baby is definitely magical but your core is starting to show the strain of overusing your magic" Hadrian said worriedly.

"I've got to get back to work" Hermione protested.

"Yes you need to go back and tell your boss you need to stop working as soon as possible" Hadrian said firmly. "I mean it Hermione you're putting both of you at risk."

"You're not a healer" Hermione argued.

"No but I know you. You must have read every book on pregnancy and childbirth you could lay your hands on so you know I'm right" Hadrian countered, "Any healer would agree you need to stay home without the glamours and rest."

Hermione sighed. "I'll request to finish at the end of the week" she compromised.

"Hermione it's Tuesday. You need to finish as soon as possible. I'll talk to your boss for you if it will help" Harry offered.

"No thanks Harry. She's a total gossip, if she sees you it will be all over the ministry that you were here" Hermione said tiredly.

"I didn't think you wanted children this soon" Harry commented, realising his friend was sad to be giving up her job.

Hermione shrugged. "Accidents happen."

"Accidents happen in the muggle world. The birth control potion is 100% effective when taken every month and there is a semi-permanent charm wizards can cast that prevents them from fathering a child until it is removed, you can even add a password to prevent someone else from removing it" Hadrian said bluntly.

"You think Ron wanted me to become pregnant?" Hermione asked.

"I know he did. He's always wanted a wife who'd stay home and look after him, the house and kids" Hadrian replied. "I told him that you wouldn't be happy with that but you know Ron. As much as he complains about his family, he can't see any other way of doing things being right. They would have been much better off financially if Molly had worked as well and there was no good reason for her not to once Ginny started Hogwarts even if she didn't want to send them to primary school."

Hermione sighed. "You're right but he only wants two children so I can return to work soon enough. I want my children to grow up knowing the muggle world as well and there's quite a good muggle primary with an early kinder program our area."

'How are you going to get Ron to agree to that' Hadrian thought to himself. He didn't say anything out loud but Hermione must have seen the scepticism in his face. "Ron will find that he misses having two wages more than he thinks he will. Especially with all the expenses of a baby" she said defensively.

"I don't doubt that, but you know how he is when he sets his mind to something" Hadrian argued. He knew that with no mortgage or rent to pay and the royalties from the book coming in they could afford to live on one wage. Hermione had actually shot her future career aspirations in the foot by writing it.

"Tell me what's going on with everyone else. How's Ron?" Hadrian asked.

"Ron's Ron" Hermione replied smiling. "He won tickets to see the cannons today so he'll be awfully disappointed tonight that they lost and full of silly ideas that could help them win next time."

Hadrian who'd been behind the mysterious 'winning' of the tickets so he could have time to talk to Hermione on her own just nodded.

"Ginny and Dean still have some weird on again off again thing going on. She hasn't been able to find work and has been out partying every night. Molly is at her wits end with her. George is busy with his shop, we haven't heard much of him lately, Percy's buzzing about the ministry like an angry bee. He was demoted when you left the country and has recently been overlooked for promotion when his old position became available, Charlie's in Romania of course, he wrote about a new girlfriend and Molly can't decide whether to be happy he's met someone or upset that she's not English. Bill and Fleur have moved to France to be near her family, apparently her father's not well" Hermione rambled filling him in on the Weasley family news, most of which he'd heard through her rare letters.

"And our other friends?" Hadrian asked.

"Hannah's expecting again" Hermione said.

"Again! Isn't little Franklin only six months old?" Hadrian asked.

"Yeah but Neville and Hannah are only children and they wanted their children close enough together to be company for each other" Hermione explained. "I think they secretly would be happy to rival the Weasleys. Luna's off on some expedition to Africa of all places. She wrote the other day to say she had a lead on the crumple horned snorcack" Hermione said amusedly.

Hadrian got tired of waiting to hear what she had to say about Andromeda's death and his running off with Teddy. "Teddy?" he asked.

"Oh, I haven't seen him in a while" Hermione said guiltily. "I meant to go a week or so but I was too tired to deal with a toddler. I must call Andi and reschedule once I've finished work."

'How could she not know Andi had died?' Hadrian thought in horror. 'What would have happened to Teddy if I had been off on assignment and out of contact?'

"I've got to go" he said abruptly getting up and almost fleeing the restaurant.

-o0o-

A/N: Thank you to Almonda, Theamazinggata, Merlenyn, Bella216, Maben00, Village-Mystic, Aire5, Selenity84, lgbtlovechick, Vladimir Mithrander, Locket1, serenityselena, Silvermane1, Kris (Guest), DS2010, julschristine975, Finnish and PROUD, CrazyPedantic, mother oracle, xDarklightx, icyquest4, lilly-flower15, charm13insomnia, acherongoddess, Dedicated4reading, buterflypuss, Guest, avidereader101, Rori Potter, annie (Guest), Je Jay Jay, Hermy-Potter-93, waterstorm03, CurranM89, Demons archers, Astyan Askar, MsRyomaPotter, rmw8855, Love life and Have fun, kazuki12akirah, whimsical-Pen, lightsoul34, Nena Snow, laraferreira, mizzmuzz, Serenity Yue, pepperpotsofdoom, Jondar, ShadowsMate, LogicalmindBigheart, galathae, Huginn et Muninn, gasacan90, bookwormrdd, kimonobabe32, thatoneguy21, xXxvampgirlxXx, FireAndPowder, aerojade22, JessaMay7, prophetess268, Gniffiz, ClosetKHHP, noelmurdock, Simple Sensation and write-my-escape for your support.


	29. Chapter 29

Chapter 29

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or NCIS or any of their characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do NOT give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

-o0o-

A/N: one of the reviews I got asked about marriage celebrants, I didn't relaise they weren't a thing in America so I'm sorry. A celebrant isn't a party planner, they're a non-religious person who is qualified to perform marriages.

-o0o-

Hadrian had intended to go to the pub Ron was likely to have stopped at after the game to catch up with his other friend but was too upset by what Hermione had said to see him at the moment. If he'd seen Ron he'd be tempted to curse him for what he was doing to his best friend, not that Hermione was totally blameless either. He wondered whether Andi's death had been deliberately kept from her or whether she'd shut the whole rest of the world out in the struggle to manage to continue working and maintaining her house and relationship with Ron while trying to get enough rest for the baby's sake, or was just too wrapped up in whatever she was researching at the moment to notice anything else, even her deteriorating health and the death notices of the person who'd been looking after her godson. He'd intended to tell Hermione about Tim and the wedding, invite her even if she was okay with the idea of him marrying a man but she hadn't even really asked about how he was going beyond the superficial greeting and wanting to know when he was moving back to England. She couldn't have come to the wedding anyway; it was far too late in her pregnancy to be taking an international portkey though he supposed she could have caught a plane if she'd really wanted to be there for him and he'd trusted her enough to let her know where he'd be far enough in advance. He was surprised to hear she was that far along, she wrote him every month or so mostly telling him about Ron and her work and she'd only just mentioned her pregnancy in the last couple of weeks.

Hadrian portkeyed home and swept Teddy up in a big hug spending the rest of the day giving the little boy his undivided attention and unconditional love. Reassuring himself that Teddy was doing perfectly well without his godmother.

-o0o-

They were ready to go to Boston and check out Hadrian's family home there. Hadrian held out the portkey he'd made.

"I just need to touch it?" Tim said dubiously.

"Yeah it will take everyone that's touching it when I say the activation phrase. It'll feel like a hook below your navel spinning you around. If you try to make walking movements with your legs as we descend you're less likely to fall" Hadrian explained.

"Is this safe for Teddy and the baby?" Tim asked.

"The healer reassured me it's safe for the baby for another two or three months and Teddy's done this before, I've cast cushioning charms on all his clothes and his hat, he'll be fine" Hadrian replied smiling.

Tim tried his best but still ended up flat on his face. Hadrian flicked out his wand and healed up any bruises and cancelled the cushioning charms. "You're right, I'm glad you booked a place for us to stay here tonight" Tim said glad he didn't have to do that again today and twice tomorrow.

Hadrian grinned. "At least I explained to you what would happen and you knew it was a portkey when you touched it" he said.

Tim shuddered at the thought of being hooked up like that without warning.

Hadrian opened the gate. Shuddering a little as he felt the wards recognise him and holding Tim's hand they walked up the path towards the house.

"The outside looks in great condition" Tim said looking around at the shining windows and immaculately maintained gardens.

Hadrian realised there must be elves maintaining the property. "Yes. The elves have done a marvellous job" He praised clearly. The invisible gardening elves blushed with pleasure and pride.

The inside was just as well maintained, though very old fashioned and coldly formal. "This could almost be a museum" Tim commented looking around at the antique furnishings. Teddy also seemed intimidated by the cold and formal space sticking close to Hadrian and Tim.

"It looks like it was furnished entirely from the vaults" Hadrian stated. "Some of the stuff must be ancient."

"Ducky will notice. He's got quite an eye for antiques" Tim commented. "They must be worth a fortune."

"Not so much as you'd think" Hadrian replied. "The stasis charms on this place would have prevented them from aging at all so most experts will think they're fakes, old fakes perhaps but still fake. Let's look around and see if there's a room that we'd like to be married in. Keep in mind that the elves can easily redecorate."

They dismissed the ballroom as too big and formal for the wedding they wanted, the lounge room looked possible until they found the conservatory. Someone must have loved tropical plants because the room was heated and humidified and full of flowers. Teddy ran around happily playing in the dirt while Hadrian examined each plant carefully but didn't find anything magical. "This would be the perfect place" he said enthusiastically.

"So long as it isn't snowing" Tim said gesturing to the way the snow was falling outside and evaporating before the flakes hit the glass roof.

"Yes that would be impossible to explain" Hadrian said ruefully. "I didn't even notice it. The dining hall at school did the same thing."

"It had a glass roof?" Tim asked. "In northern Scotland?"

"No the roof looked slate from the outside but the ceiling was enchanted to look like the sky outside so when it rained or snowed it looked like the raindrops and snowflakes disappeared between two to three meters from the floor" Hadrian explained.

Tim just laughed. "Why on earth?"

"Don't know, it didn't make any less sense than staircases that move, classes in the dungeons in spite of the fact there were dozens of unused classrooms above ground, climbing through a portrait hole to get into the common room or rooms that come and go" Hadrian replied. "I think someone once decided to try to give the castle a personality."

"Since when did a school building need a personality? Most schools I went to were doing well if they were fully maintained and had adequate heating and air-conditioning and grass outdoors to play on" Tim replied.

"Yeah my primary was like that too" Hadrian agreed. "But magical Britain isn't the most rational of places. I was surprised to get here and find that the government buildings and the shopping centre looked so normal. So were decided then, wedding out here if there's no chance of snow and in that blue lounge room if the weather's not co-operating."

"Yes that sounds right. It's big enough, how do you want to decorate it?" Tim asked.

"I don't really have any ideas but we need to give the house elves firm limits or we could end up with a replica fairytale wedding. These elves don't know our tastes like Quincy's team do." Hadrian said.

"I don't think that the conservatory needs much decorating at all. It's perfect just the way it is" Tim said.

"Yes I don't want frills or anything, but the chairs need cushions" Hadrian agreed sitting down to try them. "If we have the ceremony out here will we have dinner out here too?"

"I don't know, it's certainly warm enough, let's wait until tonight and see what it looks like" Tim suggested. "What's the dining room look like?"

They went looking, "Hopefully it looks better at night" Tim said looking at the midnight navy walls and formal dining table with place settings for twenty-six. The artwork on the walls was no doubt expensive but depressing oil still life.

Tim went and sat down, "At least these chairs aren't uncomfortable" he said.

Hadrian sat down too. "Cushioning charms" he said. "Do you think Gibbs would notice?"

"Yeah he would, Tony said he's building a wooden boat in his basement so he'd got some experience with what wood can feel like" Tim replied.

"I can take they charms off" Hadrian said standing up and doing his chair, "They're not that comfortable without the charm though, maybe we could get the elves to make some sort of cushioned seat for them. The lounge chairs were also discovered to be more elegant than comfortable and Tim and Hadrian then spent the afternoon traipsing around furniture shops with an increasingly tired and whiny toddler, looking for comfy sofa's that would go with the room.

"We should have checked the beds too" Tim said groaning as they arrived back at the house to eat the meal the kitchen elves had been so excited to make them.

"Let's try them out. We could order replacement mattresses on line if we need to" Hadrian said.

"We're going to have to get that custom made" Tim said looking in shock at the bed in the master bedroom.

Hadrian walked over and gingerly climbed onto the bed and lay down. "It feels like a feather tick" he said. "Let's check out the other rooms, we don't need this much space."

Thankfully some of the other bedrooms looked like they'd been used in the past hundred years and the beds while needing new mattresses were at least a standard king size, though Tim insisted on measuring them to be sure.

"Do you want to go to the motel tonight?" he asked.

"The elves would be so disappointed and they were so excited to cook us dinner, I brought Teddy's porta-cot and your blow up mattress from home, we could lay it out on top of the master bed if you don't mind staying, otherwise we check into the motel after dinner" Hadrian suggested.

"Let's stay" Tim said also uncomfortable with the idea of upsetting the little elves who'd greeted them so enthusiastically and kept the house so perfectly tidy even though records showed it hadn't been visited by any of the Potters in decades.

They went downstairs and checked out the conservatory at dusk.

"They must have only used it during the day" Tim said looking around the dimly lit room.

"We could call Quincy and see what he could do" Hadrian suggested. "The whole house will need to be wired for electricity if we're going to have everyone stay here. Magic is turning on the lights as we enter each room, but they're obviously gas lights."

Tim nodded and Quincy popped in when Hadrian called. "Whats can Quincy be doing for you masters" he asked.

"We wanted to know if you could wire the house for electricity and improve the lighting in here.

We're hoping to have our wedding in here the weekend after Christmas if it's not snowing" Hadrian asked. "Can you do this without disrupting the plants or the environmental charms. We don't want any wedding decorations but the rooms need new mattresses for us and possibly four guest rooms."

"Quincy cans do" the elf said bobbing his head enthusiastically. "do you wants lights like this or theses" he added casting a couple of illusions.

"I really like the little white fairy lights but will they give enough light to eat?" Tim asked.

"Yous could have table lights toos" Quincy said adding them to the illusion.

"That looks great, remember though that they have to be wired in well enough to fool some very observant non magical people Hadrian said adding table cloths and white plates to the illusion tuning the cloths several colours before settling on dark green.

A young female elf popped into the room. Dinners is ready in the dining rooms" she said. "Oh yous want to eat here" she clicked her fingers and the plates of food popped onto the table. The elves had gone overboard and prepared five courses each with too much food for the two men, one little boy and Quincy who they'd invited to join them to discuss the rest of the work.

"Well that's the catering sorted as well. This food is amazing" Hadrian said appreciatively.

"Your food is just as good" Tim replied smiling at his fiancé. They enjoyed the rest of their meal and finalised the plans with Quincy who assured them he could have the work done to make this look like a muggle home before Christmas. Returning upstairs Hadrian pulled Tim's blow up mattress out of his backpack and used magic to inflate it. Pulling out the bedding from home he quickly made up the bed. They elected to set up the porta-cot in the room with them so Teddy wouldn't wake up alone in a strange place.

-o0o-

They left Teddy playing out in the back garden with Tollie while they met with the celebrants the next morning, so they didn't need to feed him his suppression potions.

Their first choice had sounded perfectly likeable on the phone but once he saw the house

he started talking about the media and increasing the awareness and acceptance of gay marriage amongst the old families.

Hadrian looked at Tim and shook his head, his eyes widening in alarm. He didn't trust this man not to contact the press behind their backs.

Tim agreed. "I work for the Navy and if my marriage becomes public knowledge I will lose my job" he said bluntly.

"That's not fair" the celebrant protested and went on to talk about making an official protest against discriminating policies of the government.

"I'm afraid we've decided not to go ahead with the wedding at this time" Hadrian said firmly. "Tim, can you see Mr Browne out? I'll be back soon."

As soon as they left the room Hadrian disillusioned himself and aparated outside and into the rear seat of the celebrant's car. He cast a silencing charm on himself and cast a spell at Mr Browne's cell phone to disable it, he waited until the celebrant had driven to his next location before obliviating him of the memory of the house, instead planting a memory of their old apartment building. He waited until Mr Browne had left the car before aparating back to Tim.

"Did you mean it that you've changed your mind about the wedding?" Tim asked anxiously.

"No of course I haven't" Hadrian said hugging his fiancé and kissing him gently. "I'm sorry for making you doubt me even for a second but I had to say it because I needed him to have the memory of us telling him that since I didn't already have a memory of hearing you say it to me and I didn't have time to stop and explain to you if I wanted to get into his car and make sure I wiped his memory before he spoke about it to anyone. I obliviated all knowledge of the house from him, he thinks he met us in an apartment building. He's a bit of an extremist when it comes to gay rights and I didn't trust him not to use us as an example in the press."

"And what if he comes looking for us again, he must have the address written down somewhere?" Tim asked.

"I managed to erase it from the day planner he brought with him and I'll ward the house specifically against him so he can't find it" Hadrian replied.

"Let's hope the next celebrant is more sensible" Tim said.

"If we can't find a celebrant we could try the wizarding world, they probably have someone that will fit in with the normal world well enough" Hadrian suggested.

"We've got half an hour, let's go to the kitchen and talk about the menus" Hadrian suggested.

"They entered the kitchens and were set upon by the kitchen elves. "Masters not comes to kitchen" she said horrified "Missy and Bissy brings foods to masters" the elf said horrified.

"We're not looking for more food" Tim said hurriedly. "We wanted to talk about the guests that are coming after Christmas. We're planning to have a very small quiet wedding here on the Saturday after Christmas but our guests will all be non-magical and most of them are not allowed to know about magic so we will need to hire a maid or waiter to help you"

"We's can dos the work for guests" Bissy said annoyed.

"I know you can do the work but if they need help and aren't allowed to see you or the magic how are you able to help them?" Hadrian asked. "We can't have food popping onto the tables while they're there or logs putting themselves into the fire as needed or any of that. We're going to need a human they can go to for assistance and to serve the food at meal times."

"Missy can looks like a person" she said turning herself into a middle aged woman.

"That's great Missy, but can you remember not to do any magic at all in front of people. These guests are investigators and they're much more observant than normal people usually are" Tim said.

"Missy cans remember" the elf declared.

"What's yous want to feeds these peoples?" Bissy asked.

"Well a light lunch before the wedding and then a big dinner and a full English breakfast the next morning, maybe with American pancakes as well. I don't know if anyone is staying longer than that" Tim said.

"Sandwiches for lunch and a nice soup, perhaps with some quiches. Then for dinner lobster salad followed by roast beef and vegetables and a choice of deserts whats be your favourites?"

"Apple pie and vanilla ice-cream" Tim said.

"Treacle tart and anything chocolate but the wedding cake will be chocolate and maybe we should have something fancier like lemon meringue pie, or banoffee pie. You're cooking for guys so something substantial, not light and overly elegant."

"Does yous wants me to make the weddings cake?" Bissy asked.

"I've already ordered one. I didn't know if the house still had elves" Hadrian said apologetically.

Thankfully the other celebrant understood their situation and promised to keep their wedding quiet, they discussed the vows and the various non-religious rituals he had available and came to an agreement as to the format. He was impressed with the conservatory and was quite happy with the back-up plan if it was too 'cold'.

"It looks like you have everything well in hand. May I ask whether you've been living together long?" the celebrant asked.

"Nearly two years" Tim said smiling. "Though of course we don't normally live here. We both work in DC but this is Hadrian's family home. It's entailed so he can't sell it."

"I generally recommend my couples have a few counselling sessions before getting married to ensure they've discussed with each other their expectations for the future, and plans for children, child rearing styles and so on" the celebrant said handing them two thick envelopes. "I realise this may not be possible for you but I'd like you to fill out these questionnaires separately then discuss your answers. It just ensures you've discussed most of the big issues you're likely to face and are ready to make a lifetime commitment. You can do this on your own if you're more comfortable with that or consult a relationship counsellor nearer to home."

"Thank you" Tim said.

"You may of course call me any time if you want to discuss anything" the celebrant said.

"You are a relationship counsellor?" Hadrian asked.

"Yes it's my main occupation. I became a celebrant because I enjoy seeing happy relationships as well as those already in trouble. It broadens my perspective shall we say" the celebrant said beaming.

Hadrian grinned. He looked at Tim nodding slightly to tell him that this was the celebrant he wanted and Tim nodded back and they closed the deal giving the celebrant a deposit.

-o0o-

"Jethro" Fornell greeted him as Gibbs strode into Fornell's house uninvited.

"Tobias" Gibbs replied.

"Coffee or Bourbon?" Tobias asked.

"Bourbon" Gibbs replied, letting his friend know that whatever had brought him over wasn't work related.

"What brings you by?" Tobias asked.

"You find anything more about Black?" Gibbs asked.

"Only that he's classified up the whazoo" Tobias grumbled. "I don't know what this kid did but his file's more redacted than a black op report."

Gibbs frowned suspiciously. "I've heard that the unofficial story is that he's seconded here for his own protection after taking out a terrorist group?" he said doubtfully.

"Where'd you hear that" Tobias said paling.

"From someone I trust, that heard it directly from Black himself. He's not a threat to Black's security here" Gibbs replied. "I just want to know that he's not being duped by this Black."

Tobias nodded, "The story tallies with the secrecy and the number of commendations in his file. But it must have been a hell of a terrorist cell to be put in protection like that."

"Not a cell, from what I heard he says he brought down the whole organization that were terrorizing Britain a few years ago" Gibbs said.

"Nah can't have been, some kid called Potter was awarded the George Cross for that" Tobias said.

"Got a description of the kid?" Gibbs asked.

"You think it's the same person?"

"Well we've got this Potter kid winning the highest honour a British civilian can win, and then this Black kid, also British, who tells me he's twenty-four though he looks sixteen and ranks way above what you'd expect for his age, even if he is twenty-four, with his past almost totally redacted and the story he's given his fiancé is that he took out a terrorist organisation. I just want to know this kid's legit before he marries one of my people" Gibbs said.

"He engaged to Ziva? I wouldn't worry too much that girl's more dangerous than almost any man on the planet" Tobias said reassuringly.

"McGee" Gibbs replied.

Tobias sighed, he could understand why Gibbs papa bear routine was in full flight. Tim McGee had an air of innocence about him that called to even his protective instincts. "I'll see what I can find out. Have you tried to run the guy's prints and DNA?"

-o0o-

"I haven't seen you for a while" Ziva said as she walked into the ricotta cheese making course Hadrian was doing.

"Hello! I've been busy" Hadrian said smiling.

He'd been wanting to do this course for a while and when they'd seen it rescheduled Tim had insisted he go. Tim and Teddy were doing some male bonding at a local elementary school fair that had a few rides suitable for the little boy.

"Work?" Ziva commiserated.

"And moving house, renovating and getting our son settled in" Hadrian replied.

"You adopted a child? How old is he?" Ziva asked enthusiastically. While she didn't think children were in her future she loved babies.

"He's almost three and a half" Hadrian replied. He would have offered to show her the photos on his phone but a lot of them included Tim.

"What country did you get him from?" Ziva asked.

"England" Hadrian replied.

"I thought you'd say one of the third world countries that have a lot of orphans" Ziva said surprised.

"Teddy's a distant cousin" Hadrian said smiling sadly. "It's just the two of us now. We're going through a surrogate next time so we can be involved right from the start."

"You just adopted him and you're already thinking of another child?" Ziva asked.

"We'll he's already nearly four. I want them close enough to play together" Hadrian said. "Besides we were already in the process of having a baby when we found out that Teddy needed new guardians."

"So you have a child in the way?" Ziva asked.

"Yeah that's the reason that we needed a bigger place" Hadrian said cheerfully. "We've bought a house with a yard for them to play in. What's been up with you lately?"

"We'll I've been busy with work. One of my colleagues has been on light duties because of an injury so we've had more weekends off but after this weekend we're working every weekend up until Christmas to catch up our share" Ziva said.

"That sucks, so have you finished your Christmas shopping or don't you celebrate?" Hadrian asked.

"Personally I celebrate Hanukah, but my colleagues say I don't need to believe in Christmas to celebrate with them" Ziva answered.

"Yeah! I've never celebrated Thanksgiving before last year but it was nice to do something special with my boyfriend and learn about his traditions" Hadrian said understandingly. "I'm sure your friends would also celebrate Hanukah with you if you asked them to."

"Are you religious?" Ziva asked.

"My Mum's family are Presbyterian and my Dad's family are Pagan so no, religion wasn't discussed in our house, at all " Hadrian said laughing. In honesty Petunia and Vernon were Presbyterian but like everywhere else they only took Harry to church with them when Mrs Figg was unavailable to babysit.

Ziva laughed too.

-o0o-

A/N2: Thank you to julschristine975, charm13insomnia, Locket1, Kourtney Uzu Yato, gabrieljuarezl, lilly-flower15, xDarklightx, DS2010, Lientjuhh, CrazyPedantic, Bella216, Almonda, Village-Mystic, Rori Potter, buterflypuss, acherongoddess, Firehedgehog, IchigoRenji, Dedicated4reading, Gracie15Trowa, serenityselena, Maben00, Guest, lia (Guest), Afrodity, PercyJacksonROCKS4ever, Silvermane1, Merlenyn, Kris (Guest), Agii26, Yuri Ice, xJig of Deathx, xfadegirl5, drkflame89, Angelee Tyson, dreamyangels, Lady Eilistraee, badluck-ngprod, cindyprijatel, FantasyLover74, NRM1982, asilt, Cassandra Montenegro, 1, Dandle1312, Absentdementia, Hawa DL, Pegasusgirl57, Poisonsnake23 and wescott97 for your support.


	30. Chapter 30

Chapter 30

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or NCIS or any of their characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do NOT give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

-o0o-

Hadrian and Tim spent time over the next week filling in the questionnaires the celebrant had given them before sitting down to discuss the results. The biggest differences were in their views about money, not surprisingly given that Hadrian was a multimillionaire who'd grown up with nothing and therefore placed no value on his fortune so long as his needs and those of the people he loved were met, money was to him just a tool to be used and Tim had been brought up with the ideal that a real man provides for his family and providing the money gave his father status with in the home. Tim still felt a little uneasy not to be contributing an equal amount to the cost of their new home bit it didn't worry Hadrian in the slightest.

They discussed their jobs and the dangers involved and while both were slightly unhappy about the one they loved being in frequent danger each respected the other and their jobs enough to understand the importance of what they did and not to ask the other to give up the work they loved.

Hadrian wanted a large family, both because he'd envied the closeness between siblings when he was a child and though it was a minor consideration, to provide heirs for his titles to divide up the power he currently had as he didn't think it was right that one man could control so much. Tim also wanted his children to be close in age, he loved his sister dearly but the ten years between them and the fact he'd left home so young for college meant they'd never been as close as he would have liked.

Both of them considered it important that they were involved in the children's lives and that as great as the care Tollie provided was they should also spend quality time with them each day. Hadrian was happy to put his career on hold to spend the next couple of years with the children. They unanimously agreed that no child of theirs would ever be spanked or beaten, deprived of meals or made to feel as if they weren't good enough as a punishment for depressingly similar reasons, and that no child of theirs would be made to feel they were less important than the other children.

Less emotionally intense subjects were discussed like dream holidays (they both would like to explore Europe and Asia, Hadrian liked the idea of a beach holiday but Tim was less enthusiastic), future career goals (Tim's slightly hazy as he enjoyed what he was doing now too much to think seriously about it), children's education (both agreeing they would allow their children to attend a magical school but preferably not a boarding school and definitely not Hogwarts), the division of household chores (not that that would ever be an issue with the elves) Tim confessed his allergies made mowing lawns a form of torture and Hades confessed to hating gardening due to the number of times he'd been hurt by Dudley while doing outdoor work and not being able to fight back or run away until the job was completed. The questionnaire also had a section on sexual intimacy which made them both blush and giggle a bit but since both of them were perfectly satisfied with their current sex life they didn't spend much time talking about it other than to reassure the other how happy they were with everything.

-o0o-

The night they'd chosen to complete their magical vows arrived. They'd discussed locations. They had to be somewhere that non-magical people wouldn't notice any flash given off by the bonding since they didn't know how bright it would be. The goblins assured them that the wards would contain the flash whether they were in the house or out in the garden and that their bonding would also strengthen the wards a little. They also assured Hadrian and Tim that Teddy would be perfectly safe being in the house with them as they exchanged their vows and the child would be unaffected unless he was inside the rune circle with them.

Tim was all for bonding in their bedroom since they didn't have a designated ritual space and Kippy, the housekeeper elf guaranteed she would be able to get the chalk drawn runes out of the carpet. Hadrian argued that the ritual was designed to be done outside. The only place outside where they could draw the runes on a firm surface instead of trying to make them with powdered chalk in the grass was under the hanging daybed in the gazebo at the bottom of the garden. The wards would contain the magic and the walls were high enough for them not to be seen from outside the property. In the end in they decided that they wanted to start their married life in the room they were going to live in and it was worth the risk of having to replace the carpet. Though they both agreed that sex out on the day bed would be a thing to try once the weather improved.

Kippy helped Hadrian by shrinking the bed and moving it out of the room. Luckily the carpet was pure wool so he didn't need to worry about the effects of magic on artificial fibres. Drawing the runes was painstaking work especially for the wizard that hasn't begun to learn runes until entering the Auror academy and it took him most of the day.

Tim took one look at his tired countenance and offered to put the ritual off one more day so he could be well rested.

"We can't use our room until the ritual's done" Hadrian said tiredly. "I'll take a bath and maybe nap a little on the couch after dinner and I'll be fine."

They couldn't have anything but the two of them inside the rune circle which Tim thought would mean being penetrated without lube or preparation but Hadrian had been researching the ritual as much as possible and had come across an anecdote of two men using the ritual successfully by prepping each other before entering the rune circle. They both stripped naked shivering slightly in the cool air and Hadrian gently brought Tim to climax before using his semen as lube to stretch and prepare himself while Tim did the same.

Fully ready they moved carefully though the intricate rune circle to the clear space in the centre. Hadrian sat down and Tim straddled his lap slowly lowering himself onto Hadrian's erection, groaning as he bottomed out with Hadrian pulsing gently inside him. Gazing into each other's eyes lovingly they began reciting their vows in turn.

"I vow to love you to the depth, breath, and height my soul can reach for the rest of my life" Tim began confidently.

"I vow to love you to the depth, breath, and height my soul can reach for the rest of my life" Hadrian repeated, smiling and continuing. "I vow to rejoice in our love in body and in soul every day."

"I vow to rejoice in our love in body and in soul every day. I vow to listen to you, to respect your opinions and beliefs and take them into consideration" Tim said earnestly.

"I vow to listen to you, to respect your opinions and beliefs and take them into consideration, and I vow to confide in you, to share my secrets, my thoughts my beliefs and my experiences" Hadrian replied.

"I vow to confide in you, to share my secrets, my thoughts my beliefs and my experiences, I vow to believe in you always and believe in our love" Tim continued seamlessly.

"I vow to believe in you always and believe in our love. I vow to live my life with you, to share with you to work alongside you and build a future with you" Hadrian vowed.

"I vow to live my life with you, to share with you to work alongside you and build a future with you and I vow to rest with you, and to seek balance between work and play" Tim's voice was firm and unhesitating.

"I vow to rest with you, and to seek balance between work and play. I vow to encourage you to become all that you can be" Hadrian's speech was calm and assured.

"I vow to encourage you to become all that you can be and I vow to exalt in your successes as if they were my own" Tim said lovingly.

"I vow to exalt in your successes as if they were my own. I vow to share your grief and comfort you in times of need, to always care for you and to meet all your needs to the best of my ability" Hadrian replied sincerely.

"I vow to share your grief and comfort you in times of need, to always care for you and to meet all your needs to the best of my ability. I vow to be your husband, your partner and your best friend for the rest of our lives" Tim promised.

"I vow to be your husband, your partner and your best friend for the rest of our lives" Hadrian repeated the final vow fervently.

"So mote it be" they said together. Blindingly white light flashed from both of them seeming to swil around the pair before dissipating and they both climaxed as one passing out with the strength of their magical and physical communion.

They woke several hours later chilled and stiff from lying on the cold floor.

"Do you feel any different?" Tim asked.

"Other than freezing and exhausted, no I don't think so" Hadrian replied thoughtfully. "What about you?"

"I feel like I could sleep for a week, but I don't feel any differently towards you" Tim replied. "But perhaps we're just too tired to tell."

"Do you still feel up to another round?" Hadrian asked. They'd originally planned to make sure that Tim penetrated Hadrian as well before ending the ritual."

"I don't feel that it's going to make any difference to the way we feel about each other. I don't feel in any way subservient for having bottomed during the ritual" Tim said thoughtfully. "And honestly a hot shower and a warm bed sound extremely appealing right now."

"Still I think we should if we can just to make sure. I want an equal partnership Tim" Hadrian replied.

"I know you do and I love you for it and want the same" Tim replied. "The spirit is willing as always Hades, but…" he gestured at his flaccid cock.

Hadrian moved slightly slipping out of Tim's tight channel and began sung his hands to stimulate his lover. It took a minute, cold and cramped and covered in itchy dried semen from his orgasm during the ritual but Tim could never help bit to respond to Hadrian and he soon laid the smaller man back and thrust gently into him aware that it had possibly been several hours since Hades had prepared himself before they began the ritual and his lover was tighter than he normally was. "I don't want to hurt you" Tim said anxiously.

"You won't" Hadrian replied trustingly, though it did hurt a little. Tim leaned down to kiss him until he relaxed fully before pushing further inside. He pulled back and began rocking his hips watching Hadrian carefully for any sign of pain or discomfort. Finding only love and desire Tim sped up muttering their vows as he started pounding into his lover. Hadrian replied between moans, screaming his final vow as orgasm took him. The light between them this time was more subdued and neither really noticed before passing out again.

Hadrian groaned as he woke up again still on the floor as dawn began to lighted the sky outside the windows. "Tim, Tim wake up. We need to get cleaned up and into bed before Teddy comes in." Their little boy was a fairly frequent and welcome visitor in their bed first thing in the morning though they had begun trying to teach him to knock and wait for permission before entering the room just in case they'd fallen asleep without pulling on sleepwear or at least clean underwear the night before, he wasn't yet consistently good at remembering.

Hadrian got Tim up and moving. "Where the hell is the bed?" he asked looking around as if he'd only just noticed it wasn't there.

"Kippy took it" Hadrian said. "Let's get in the shower and I'll call her to bring it back."

"Wont she be asleep?" Tim asked.

"I don't want to sleep in the guest room in case Teddy comes looking for us in the morning. I don't want to frighten him like that" Hadrian said.

Tim went to start his shower and Hadrian pulled on some pants before calling Kippy to return the bed before joining him.

-o0o-

Hadrian and Tim slept late. They were vaguely aware that Teddy joined them for a cuddle before being collected by Tollie for breakfast. They eventually got up and joined Teddy for lunch.

"You sick?" Teddy asked anxiously.

"No Teddy we're not sick. We just had a really late night" Hadrian reassured him blushing.

"You all red" Teddy replied.

"We're not sick" Tim replied embarrassed. "What do you want to do this afternoon?" He asked to distract the little boy.

"Pway outside" Teddy said enthusiastically.

"Okay Teddy but you'll have to put your snow suit on, it's freezing outside" Hadrian agreed. They spent the afternoon out playing in the snow, Hadrian casting warming charms on his husband and godson whenever they came near him.

-o0o-

The bond settled well and neither man felt very different. The vows thy made weren't restrictive as neither had vowed to do anything they weren't already willing to do. The one difference was the peace they felt inside when they thought of the other. The guarantee that they would have the rest of their lives together gave Hadrian that sense of security that his life had been lacking since his parents had been killed. They were happy and that happiness overflowed to Teddy who also began to feel more secure in their family though he couldn't have explained why. Tim also blossomed in confidence even more than he had before and this helped heal his hurt feelings at the way the team had treated him. He no longer even in the most insecure corner of his heart needed his colleagues to approve of him and his actions. Even without them his life was full and the plans for their mundane marriage ceremony continued to fall into place without stressing either groom too much.

-o0o-

Things slowly seemed to return to normal for Tim at work, though he found himself far less friendly and more coldly professional in his dealings with Tony and Ziva and tended to avoid Abby as much as possible. He no longer relied on the approval of others, having the confidence to know in himself that he'd done his job to the best of his ability and that his best was god enough. Gibbs delighted in the increased confidence McGee was showing an encouraged him to grow and develop his skills. Unlike every time he and Abby had fallen out before Gibbs was happy to allow Tim to avoid her so long as it wasn't affecting cases sending Tony and Ziva down to the lab when evidence had to be delivered. Eventually though, a case came up that required them to piece together a damaged computer to retrieve the information from it and Tim had to work down in the lab. When that happened, Gibbs visited them frequently trying to stay neutral and supportive to both. Jimmie also started spending a lot of time in the lab stating that he was interested in learning how to as he put it 'autopsy a computer'. Tim knew that Ducky must also be concerned about the situation to be allowing Jimmie to spend so much time away from his usual duties. The month passed and the incident in the bullpen when they'd called Tim a liar when he told them he was getting married was forgotten by everyone except Tim, who'd managed to push the hurt aside in able to remain working with the other three and maintain his trust that they'd have his back out in the field even if they didn't anywhere else.

-o0o-

Christmas arrived slightly before anyone was ready for it like it always did. Tim and Hadrian had taken Teddy to meet Santa, and to see the Christmas lights. They'd discussed whether or not to attend a religious service but seeing as neither felt strongly about it had decided not to risk exposing Teddy to the sort of bigotry many mainstream religions seemed to practice. Even standing on the line to take a photo with Santa they'd had to ignore several pointedly disapproving looks though luckily Teddy hadn't noticed the animosity. They completed their Christmas shopping buying far too many things for the little boy wanting him to have a magical Christmas. "It's going to be hard on him not having his grandmother for the holidays" Tim commented.

"Perhaps, but Andi celebrated Yule not Christmas so our celebration should be different enough not to remind him too much of his old life" Hadrian said hopefully. Gibbs had told Tim where to go to get a Christmas tree and even offered the loan of his truck after laughing at the idea of his young agent trying to bring a tree home with him on top of his porche boxter. Tim had gratefully accepted the loan knowing that Hadrian wouldn't be able to magic the tree home with all the other shoppers about. Hadrian did however manage to magically fit Teddy's car seat into the middle of the truck's bench seat and to lighten the weight of the tree and shrink it slightly so the two of them easily managed to lift it into the back of the truck. They felt a little guilty paying for a six foot tree when it was actually eight foot but salved their consciences by buying a large number of expensive ornaments and tipping generously. Teddy had lived riding in the front of the truck between his two favourite men and delighted in running and hiding in the Christmas trees unaware of the magical tether Hadrian had cast on him. He'd fallen asleep on the way home allowing the elves to get the tree inside and set up without him underfoot. They left the tree bare until the next day so Teddy could 'help' decorate, though he soon grew bored with the process and they abandoned it to finish once he'd gone to bed.

-o0o-

The team had decided to exchange presents a few days before Christmas even though they were on call Christmas day in the hope that they wouldn't actually be called in though this had never happened in the past. Christmas was a time for extra leave for the sailors on shore and family reunions and there were some families that would have been better off without the extra pressure to spend time together.

Tim had brought Tony, Ziva and Abby very generic Christmas presents not really caring what they thought of them.

However, he'd spent more effort and money on those that supported him. Hadrian had made a side trip to muggle London on the way to meet with Kingsley and Robbards and visited one of Ducky's favourite shops purchasing genuine Scottish shortbread and Ducky's favourite brand of tea and brandy both nearly impossible to get in DC. Jimmie he'd brought a new winter coat knowing the ME's assistant was spending every spare penny on finishing his medical degree. For Gibbs he'd bought bourbon and a book on the history of wooden boat design.

In return Tim got the latest book by one of his favourite authors from Jimmie, a nice bottle of white wine and a voucher for a meal for two at a romantic restaurant that had a reputation for being accepting of alternative couples and from Gibbs he received a voucher from a local tech store. "I don't understand much about it but I'm sure they'll have something you want to add to your computer setup" he said.

Tim grinned, "Yeah there's a couple of things I've been eyeing off" he agreed.

"Ziva had thanked them all for their gifts, distributed gifts of her own and left them in order to attend the Synagogue but the rest of them seemed content to hang around Abby's lab and open presents.

Tim unwrapped the Christmas present Abby handed him last. He was surprised she'd bought him a gift considering she'd barely talked to him in the last three weeks but supposed she'd probably bought it before their argument about the concert.

He looked at the clothes in horror. He didn't think he'd have the courage to wear an outfit like that in public though he did wonder for a second whether Hades would appreciate the view. He certainly wouldn't mind if his fiancé dressed up like that for him when they were home alone some night.

"It's clothes to wear to 'The airborne toxic event' concert so you can fit in better and have a good time" Abby explained.

"I'm not going Abby" Tim said exasperatedly. "I won't be here."

"Tim's told you he's busy that weekend Abs. Why don't you ask Tony to go to the concert with you?" Gibbs asked.

Abby pouted for a moment, then looked at Gibbs consideringly. "You could come with me Gibbs. My sexy silver fox would fit right in."

Tim winced.

"I can't Abs. I'm going to the wedding" Gibbs replied.

"What wedding? Who's getting married?" Abby asked.

"I am" Tim declared. "I'm getting married and before you ask the reason you weren't invited is because I tore up the invitations when you refused to believe me and made fun of me when I told you about it and tried to invite you. I've got to go." He got up and headed out.

Tony started to follow only to be stopped by a glare from Gibbs.

"I don't know why you're lying for him Gibbs" Abby accused.

"I don't think he is lying Abby. I think Tim really is getting married. He wouldn't still be so upset by our response if it wasn't true" Tony said soberly.

"Well where's the wedding. We'll go and show our support and everything will be okay again" Abby proposed.

"Not this time Abs. Tim no longer wants you there and you are not going to crash his wedding demanding he forgive you" Gibbs said firmly. "I forbid you from trying to find it."

"Timmy always forgives us" Abby protested.

"Let it go Abs" Gibbs ordered. "I forbid you from going to Tim's wedding, that's his special day and the last thing he wants is for you to make it all about you! Here Tony, since you've been volunteered to go to the concert, I'm sure Tim won't mind if you keep the outfit Abby bought for it."

Tony looked at the outfit and shuddered. "I doubt McChubby's clothes would fit me" he protested.

Abby looked at him consideringly. "I think they would. Tim's slimmed down a lot the last couple of years."

Tony followed Gibbs to the elevator. "How do I make this up to McGee?" he asked.

"I don't know if you can. But if I was you I'd start with an apology" Gibbs replied seriously. "You've always treated him as the butt of your jokes, it's time to put that aside and try to get to know him."

"What about Rule 6?" Tone asked shocked.

"In this caser it's superseded by the need to fix the mess you caused and Rules 42 and 51" Gibbs said firmly.

"42 and 51?" Tony asked faintly.

"Rule 42 Your team is your family don't take it for granted and Rule 51 Sometimes — You're Wrong!" Gibbs said slapping him on the back of the head. "I'm almost surprised Tim hasn't put in for a transfer to another team and that would be breaking Rule 5 so I need you to try to fix this DiNozzo."

"Transferring of the MCRT without stepping up to a senior field agent position would harm his career and he's not ready for that, it's not like he could be assigned as an agent afloat somewhere" Tony said.

"I receive almost as many hints from other agencies about Tim lately as I do about you" Gibbs said bluntly. "Tim would have his choice of positions if he chose to leave NCIS, not to mention what his computer skills could earn him in the private sector. Just because I hate computers doesn't mean I'm not aware of how good Tim's skills really are in that area."

-o0o-

A/N: Thank you to Kourtney Uzu Yato, Rori Potter, julschristine975, xDarklightx, lilly-flower15, icyquest4, Theamazinggata, Locket1, charm13insomnia, Almonda, BCgurlie, ShadowWolf's Fables, Dedicated4reading, Lientjuhh, buterflypuss, DS2010, IchigoRenji, Silvermane1, gabrieljuarezl, Guest, Gracie15Trowa, PercyJacksonROCKS4ever, Maben00, acherongoddess, serenityselena, .9, Merlenyn, SilverJA, thetardis394, Anatia Haru de Luna Ley Fay, EdEsE, BlueWolfen, Misako87, Jewlygem, An Honest Politician, SAKURA-BL0SSOM, MaraWeaves, haru1987, uniquecornishpixie, CACOPANMCO34, Thorn dark angel, Love is Evil, enaryth, Piczu, XTheDarkQueenX, LittleMoonlightLover, Penny52143 and Krugness for your support.

A/N2: I'm starting to struggle to keep up with the output so if you review tell me which is more important to you, trying to keep to a 3rd day posting schedule maybe with shorter chapters or posting less often but keeping the chapter length the same.


	31. Chapter 31

Chapter 31

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or NCIS or any of their characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do NOT give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

-o0o-

Tony intended to apologise to Tim but when he tried to visit him later that night something dissuaded him and he didn't think any more of it that night. They got an early morning call out and he arrived at the scene to find Tim already photographing the body. "What we got Boss?" he asked Gibbs.

"Equivocal death. Looks like it could be a suicide but it also could have been planned to look that way. The first responders weren't sure and they saw all the Navy stuff so they called us in. Tony looked at the desk it had letterhead from the Regan and a dress cover sitting on the shelf.

"Any idea what tipped off the cops?" Tony asked.

"Paramedics and they said something looked pinky" Ziva replied confused.

"Hinky" Tony corrected.

"Now that's not a word?" Ziva questioned.

"I think it meant they didn't consciously notice anything but something just felt off about it, like Gibb's gut sometimes tells him things and he can't explain why he feels it" Tony explained. "What ya got McGoo?"

"ID?" Gibbs demanded.

"I don't have one Boss. This man doesn't work for the navy. His prints are not in the data base. The house is leased to a petty officer Rinter but that's not him" Tim replied.

"I haven't moved the body to check for a wallet or phone yet"

"Thank you for that Timothy" Ducky said smiling appreciatively at the younger man as he finished his initial examination. "You can move him now."

What ya think Duck?" Gibbs asked.

"Time of death between 0200 and 0400. Appears to be a suicide at first glance but I'll know more when I get him on the table." He gestured to Jimmie that he was ready for the body bag and stretcher.

"No wallet or phone on him, no keys either" Tim reported after patting down the victim. "Nothing but half a roll of Tums and some loose change"

"DiNozzo, David turn this place over and see if you can find out who he is and what he was doing here" Gibbs ordered. He would've liked to leave Tim here with Tony to give Tony the opportunity to apologise but he was going to need his computer skills to find out who the victim was.

"Tim find out what you can about Petty Officer Rinter, I want to know about his family and who he lived with as well as potential enemies. If Rinter isn't our vic then chances are he's the killer unless this is a suicide in which case it could be an attempt by the victim to blame him."

-o0o-

"Report" Gibbs ordered walking into the bullpen after Tony and Ziva arrived back.

"We think the guy lived there" Tony reported. "There were two definite sets of male clothes in the master bedroom and we found a photo album upstairs. He showed photos of two men with arms wrapped around each other intimately, one clearly the deceased.

"That's Petty Officer Rinter" Tim said putting up the PO's service record on the plasma.

"Find anything else in the house?" Gibbs asked.

"Other than a truly impressive and slightly disturbing collection of sex toys" Tony said. "Thanks boss" he added after Gibbs head-slapped him.

"There were prescription bottles for antidepressants and several other medications I didn't recognise some of them in the name Lucas Rinter and some James Brigman. I gave the bottles to Ducky" Ziva added.

Tim was typing rapidly into the computer and after a minute put a driver's licence up on the plasma. "James Brigman, Maryland driver's licence, 26 years old, born in Minneapolis, no warrants, not even a speeding ticket though he had a couple of recent parking tickets issued in Tondorf Road. That's next to Georgetown University Hospital, boss" he reported. The licence photo matched their John Doe as much as licence photos ever matched their owners.

"Have you been able to locate Petty Officer Rinter?" Gibbs asked.

"No Boss. He's stationed aboard the xx, they docked yesterday and he's on 24 hours' liberty, due to return to the ship at 1800 hours" Tim replied. "I spoke briefly to his CO and his bunk mates still aboard. None of them were aware of Rinter's plans for his liberty other than that he had a specialist appointment. I tried to speak to the inboard doctor but he was also on liberty."

"I spoke to base housing. Petty Officer Rinter was single with no listed dependents. He officially lived alone. There's been no record of any domestic disputes" Gibbs added to their knowledge. "Tony, you and Ziva take the evidence down to Abby. Tim see what you can get off the computer."

There were several chances for Tony to apologise to Tim that day which he failed to take. Instead he watched him closely, seeing for the first time the hurt in his eyes as he looked at Tony or Ziva, the silent support that Gibbs was giving him as he trusted the young agent to do his job without being barked at like Gibbs frequently had done in the past. He also noticed the closeness between McGee and the autopsy gremlin and how Tim's manner relaxed when the two of them were together and thought themselves unobserved. Tony missed that relaxed manner that used to be present when the team was together in the bullpen as well. Tony also noticed how the other teams in the bullpen all went out of their way to speak to Tim as he passed them on the way to the break room or the men's room, and how at least one of them looked up whenever he spoke to McGee as if keeping an eye out that he didn't upset the junior agent. In fact he noticed that in spite of the fact Tim had nearly three years on the team he was still the youngest agent in the entire bullpen. Tony didn't want to make another scene and resolved to talk to Tim after work.

By the end of the day they'd solved the case. It was suicide. James Brigman had recently tested positive for aids, he and PO Rinter had been in an exclusive relationship for over three years so when his biannual test came back positive he assumed his lover had been unfaithful. So, unwilling to face the discrimination of being HIV+ and the future of slowly wasting away he'd taken his own life, but he'd tried to do it in a way that his lover would hopefully be accused of him murder.

"You know I spoke to Rinter's CO, his bunkmates, his workmates and the people that he sent time with off duty and not one of them told me anything about James or the fact Ringer was gay. In fact, several people mentioned a relationship with a female midshipman" Tim said sadly.

"Did you speak with the midshipman?" Tony asked.

"Yes she's heartbroken, she was hoping to introduce him to her family before they set sail again" Tim replied.

"You need to contact her and warn her to be tested for HIV" Ducky said.

"You've confirmed that Rinter has AIDS?" Gibbs asked.

"Yes that was his specialist appointment at Bethesda this morning. His doctor confirmed he's never received treatment but had potentially had the virus several years" Ducky replied.

"He's spent his whole life lying to everyone" Tim said sorrowfully.

"The question really is whether he knew he had HIV. If he knew and didn't tell his partner then he is guilty of killing James" Tony said.

"He could be prosecuted for criminal transmission of HIV if we can prove that he knew he had it. And gave it to James via unsafe sex" Tim said.

"We could prove the unsafe sex, there wasn't a single condom at the house" Ziva said.

"Guys do we really want to spend Christmas Eve trying to get an already dying man who's just lost his long term partner and his job charged with a misdemeanour?" Tony asked.

"It wouldn't be a misdemeanour Tim replied. "And if stops him from passing the virus to someone else."

They left the Navy yard and Tony intended to stop to buy beer and pizza before heading to visit Tim. He thought better of the pizza figuring he could ring for some after Tim agreed to let him stay for dinner. It wasn't as if he knew Tim would be alone, he did have a fiancé after all. Even if Tony had never met her. Tony wondered what Tim's fiancé would be like, smart of course, it would take a smart woman to keep up with his friend. He didn't get the impression that looks were important to Tim, the few girls he knew Tim had dated in the past were all very different so his friend didn't have a definite type but he pictured that Tim would be happiest with someone quiet and shy, whether they be mothering or intellectual. 'Not a supermodel' he decided, though Tim had lost a lot of weight lately he wouldn't have appealed to that sort of woman. 'If the weight loss was her doing though she might be athletic' Tony considers. Speaking of athletics hadn't he promised to meet the guys and play a little basketball tonight. He turned the car around and headed to the gym he and his friends played at (not knowing that the intent wards had beaten him again).

-o0o-

"I knew he was lying" Abby crowed as Tony answered the phone at five in the morning.

"Abby?" Tony said still half asleep.

"He was lying Tony" Abby repeated.

"Who was lying?" Tony asked waking up and cursing to himself. "What time is it?"

"McGee! I hacked the marriage licence registry and Timmy hasn't applied for a wedding licence" Abby explained.

"Gibbs told you not to try to find the wedding" Tony said warningly. "Abby it's the middle of the night what are you doing up poking your nose into business you were told to stay away from."

"I technically haven't found where the wedding is, only that it doesn't exist" Abby argued.

"I can't believe that he'd lie to us, and Gibbs went along with it" Tony protested. His brain caught up to what he'd just said. He didn't believe it. There had to be another explanation. Tim had been really hurt by their refusal to believe he was getting married and there was no way Gibbs would have given him the telling off he did if it wasn't true. He hung up on Abby rather than argue with her though. She wouldn't change her mind without cold hard proof once she'd made it up like this.

-o0o-

Tony decided to go to Tim's to confront him about not having a wedding booked. He still felt slightly guilty about the way the whole team had ganged up on him the day he first mentioned it. Especially being dragged into Gibbs' 'office', the kid hadn't deserved that. He wondered if he'd told Gibbs he was lying, he certainly hoped he had because there was no way Abby wouldn't tell him.

He arrived at Tim's apartment and knocked. He hadn't paid much notice to the fact he hadn't seen Tim's car, it was a work night so probie surely wasn't far away. Getting no answer he decided to let himself in to wait for him.

The elves had finished cleaning through and the apartment and Tim had stopped by and handed the keys back on his way home from work but it had taken a while to re-let and the new tenants weren't due to move in until the weekend so the apartment was completely empty. Tony walked around, noting the new lock on the door and windows before pulling out his phone and calling Tim's home number.

"Hey Tony what's up. Why didn't you call my cell? Do we have a case?" Tim answered.

"No I'm at your apartment. I brought Pizza. Why didn't you tell me you'd moved?"

"Why didn't I tell you that I'd moved in with my fiancé? Gee Tony why'd you think?" Tim replied sarcastically.

Tony flushed in embarrassment and a little anger. "Well what's your new address and I'll be over?" he said trying not to sound irritated.

"Don't worry about the pizza. We've already eaten and I doubt you bought enough for four anyway" Tim replied. "The address is XXX."

"Four?" Tony questioned.

"My fiancé and his son" Tim replied deliberately not giving details.

"So you're gonna be a McStepdaddy?" Tony asked. "That's a big commitment Tim. Or at least it is if you do it right" he added bitterly. There had been several stepmoms in Tony's teenaged years but none had been interested in getting to know Anthony DiNozzo Junior.

"Teddy's a great kid" Tim replied. "And I have no intention of packing him off to boarding school or out of sight with a nanny."

"What sports and games is he into?" Tony asked.

"He's three and a half" Tim replied laughing. "He likes climbing, riding his new tricycle and playing in the water better than playing ball at the moment."

"I'll see you soon" Tony replied.

"Sure Tony" Tim replied trying not to get his hopes up. He assumed Hadrian had taken down the wards specifically geared to the three of them from the apartment building so just because he'd managed to get in there didn't mean the wards on the house wouldn't keep him away.

Tony turned up ten minutes later and recognising his car Tim let him in the gate and met him outside.

"Hey Tim, nice place, security's tight here" Tony said surprised that the house didn't look like it had been divided into apartments from the outside.

"It needs to be" Tim replied absently. "Come on in, Hades is upstairs bathing Teddy and getting him to bed."

They entered the house and Tony was astonished that it really did look like a single house. "This all one place, the upkeep will be a huge commitment, Gibbs barely has time for his yard work, let alone mowing all that" he said.

"There's a contractor that does it" Tim dismissed. "What's up Tony, you haven't felt the need to come and visit me in years and nothing out of the ordinary happened at work today?"

"Years?" Tony questioned surprised.

"Hades and I moved in here while I was on leave after I was shot in the shoulder but we've been living together for nearly two years and you hadn't visited my flat in months before that either" Tim replied bluntly.

"I never realised. I'm sorry Tim" Tony said sadly. He'd never intended their relationship to be only in the workplace like that. He'd always had a personal friendship with his other partners outside of work and had intended to do the same with Tim when he'd joined their team. How had he got so busy with other stuff to neglect this friendship so badly.

"Why are you here now?" Tim asked again.

Tony remembered that he'd come to warn his friend, team mate no he wanted to be McGee's friend. "Abby's on the warpath" Tony said. "She's been checking on marriage licence applications and you haven't applied for one."

"So you decided to come and call me a liar again! I guess I should be grateful we're not in the middle of the bullpen this time" Tim replied frowning.

"Tim if Gibbs doesn't know you were lying and he finds out from Abby you're gonna be in real trouble. I'm trying to have your back here" Tony replied. "You need to come clean and take the consequences."

"Gibbs knows the truth. My family don't live in DC, and Hades' doesn't have family in America, why on earth would anyone assume we'd get married locally?" Tim asked.

Tony looked surprised, this hadn't occurred to him though it made a lot of sense.

"I'm sorry I didn't believe you right from the start, and I'm even more sorry for making a joke of it. If I hadn't been so incredulous Ziva would probably have accepted your statement and the two of you would still be friends" Tony said sincerely.

"I accept your apology but it's going to take a bit of time for me to trust you with my personal life again Tony" Tim replied.

"Tim, can I ask if you're sure that getting married is the right thing to do? It's just, nobody's met this girl, we've never even heard you talk about seeing someone. Isn't it awfully soon to be thinking about getting married?" Tony asked concerned. "Especially if you haven't met her family. How do you know she is who she says she is? Are you sure this isn't just a reaction to almost being killed recently or were you engaged before that?"

"Hades' has met Gibbs and Ducky and his clearance is better than yours and mine" Tim replied dryly. "We've been virtually living together for the past two years. And do you really think I could afford a place like this on my own, hell I couldn't even pay my half of what it's valued at now it's been fully renovated, so it's not like I'm been strung along financially."

"So she's what? FBI, CIA, DIA, NSA, Homeland?" Tony asked.

"MI7 seconded to an obscure branch of the FBI" Tim replied.

"MI7? Never heard of them" Tony said concerned.

"That doesn't mean anything" Tim stated defensively. "Like I said I doubt even Sheppard has the clearance to know Hades' full history."

"So where are you getting married then? Where's your Dad posted at the moment?" Tony asked letting it drop.

"Dad's in Hawaii, but we're getting married in Boston" Tim replied.

"Why Boston?" Tony asked.

"Because Hade's owns a house in Boston and Massachusetts is currently the only state where Gay marriage is legal. We both decided we wanted a legal marriage not just a commitment ceremony." Tim said bluntly.

"Gay marriage" Tony whispered almost silently in shock. "Does Gibbs know you're marrying a man? Is this why you haven't told us about him?"

"That and the fact I was nearly bashed after you told the women up in accounting that I was gay" Tim replied. "Not to mention Abby tries to investigate and attack any person I show any interest in. Of course Gibbs knows Hadrian's a man, they have met."

"Abby's just jealous" Tony said.

"She has no right to be. She's the one that ended our relationship and she had plenty of opportunity to get back together if she wanted. She isn't in love with me or interested in being with me, she just wants me to sit at home alone miserably to be at her beck and call when she wants something" Tim stated calmly.

"She asks you out to concerts fairly regularly" Tony countered.

"Yeah! When she needs a designated driver. You can't think I share her taste in music" Tim said tiredly. "When I invited her anywhere she'd always refuse because it sounded boring or be too busy but if I dare say I can't take her to a concert she throws the mother of all tantrums. In hindsight telling me that I wasn't her type was probably the best advice you've ever given me. I'm just sorry I didn't know you well enough to take it."

"Don't be too hard on yourself, it was visiting Abby that made you so keen to help us out on cases which is what got you onto the team" Tony reminded him.

Tim smiled slightly.

"So when can we meet this guy? Are you going to invite me to the wedding?"

"I don't know Tony. I ripped up your invitation after what happened in the bull pen" Tim replied tiredly. "I still don't think I want you there after what happened.

"You were really going to invite us?" Tony asked.

"Why not it's not like either of us have a lot of family or friends"

"So Gibbs is going to the wedding? He's really met this guy? And he approves"

"He is, he has and he does" Tim replied refusing to be drawn further.

"So when can I meet him?" Tony asked.

"I think he'd be down here now if he wanted to meet you" Tim replied. "He's not impressed by some of the things I've told him about our team. Especially since we started planning the wedding."

"I'm sorry I didn't believe you. It was just surreal you know. I thought you would have told me about any relationship long before you got to the proposal stage. Did you propose or did he?" Tony apologised before his curiosity overtook him again.

"I suggested it and we talked about it and agreed it was a good idea. He proposed after we found the rings we want to use" Tim replied.

 _Tim smiled to himself at the memory of Hadrian surprising him by taking the ring he'd chosen and immediately dropping to one knee. "Timothy McGee, will you marry me?" He asked directly._

 _Tim grinned and pulled Hadrian up onto his lap kissing him thoroughly without saying anything._

 _"By the way that was a Yes" Tim said as they caught their breath after christening their new sofa._

 _Hadrian laughed. "I rather thought it might be" he said._

I guess it's kind of difficult with two guys to work out who proposes" Tony said considering, though he couldn't resist teasing as well. "Does the fact that he proposed make you the girl in the relationship? Are you going to wear a pretty white dress down the aisle?"

"What? No? There's no girl in our relationship!" Tim spluttered.

"Though I suppose the fact he's upstairs bathing the kid and your down here drinking beer with a friend kind of makes him the girl. And I can see he's got money so maybe you're the toy-boy?"

"He's upstairs avoiding you, Teddy must have been bathed and put to bed by now. And the only reason I haven't helped bath him yet is that Hades' is worried that it would hurt my shoulder lifting him out afterwards" Tim explained. We try hard to have an equal relationship, though he likes cooking more than I do so he's always done most of that."

"So tell me what he's like. Does he have the same taste in music, is he a tech geek like you or does he love to write, what sort of movies does he like and what team does he go for?"

"Crystal Palace FC" Tim said dryly. "He doesn't follow American football." Of course, Hadrian wasn't much of a fan of what Tim and Tony called soccer either but Tim could hardly tell his team mate that Hadrian was a Puddlemere United fan.

"Was it hard for you, the case today? Because Rinter was in the closet like that" Tony asked seeing how tired his junior agent looked.

"At least it wasn't a hate crime" Tim said sighing. "Rinter didn't get treatment for his illness so he could keep his job, he's probably going to die years earlier than he would have if he hadn't had to hide what was wrong with him."

"Tim, you think he kept quiet because of 'Don't ask Don't Tell'?" Tony asked surprised. "But he could have gone to a private doctor and kept it off the records. And even if he was keeping it quiet he should have told his partner."

"Not just DADT, the Navy doesn't allow HIV+ sailors to serve overseas or aboard ship, he would have been transferred to a shore job here in the US" Tim explained. "And that's if he wasn't dismissed for being gay."

"Is the bigotry that bad at NCIS?" Tony asked.

"I don't know, but there has to be a reason I don't know any openly gay agents" Tim said sighing. "The security guard who almost bashed me for being gay was charged, though it was kept awfully quiet."

"I owe you an apology for that too. I'm sorry Tim I had no idea that you'd be hurt by my comments. It was a joke and obviously a really bad one."

"I forgave you for your part in that a long time ago Tony. I know you weren't involved in the attempted assault" Tim replied.

"How close did they come?" Tony asked hesitantly.

"Well let's just say that Rule 9 dissuaded them" Tim said smugly, "and I was able to identify their voices, so they were caught. Unfortunately, I wasn't their first victim."

"I'm glad you weren't hurt" Tony said sincerely.

"James killed himself because Rinter cheated on him, but I wonder how much being kept as a secret damaged their relationship?" Tim voiced his fears.

"You think that's going to affect you?" Tony asked. "It isn't the same, you've told the people closest to you. Had your fiancé been upset that you haven't told us sooner?"

"No, he always said he was fine with it, though he did tell his teams before I did" Tim replied. "It just really struck home when I was injured that none of you knew to let him know. We had an argument before I left and he thought I just didn't want to speak to him."

"well next time, you should just let us know there's someone and you aren't ready to give us details" Tony suggested.

"There isn't going to be a next time Tony. Hades and I are getting married. Til death do us part" Tim said firmly.

Tony smiled ruefully at having put his foot in it again.

"I'd better go, gonna be a difficult day dealing with legal tomorrow" Tony said. What he meant was it would be a difficult day for all of them dealing with Gibbs temper after the lawyers got involved with Rinter's case.

Tim gave a twisted half smile. "That's for sure" he said, getting up to walk him out. "Thanks for coming Tony."

"It was good to clear the air Tim" Tony said smiling genuinely. "Night."

"Night Tony" Tim replied.

"This sure is a nice place Tim. Not too fancy and formal" Tony said appreciatively. He looked around the comfortable room, it had all the feeling of a family home except for the lack of family photographs on the mantle, he still didn't know what Tim's fiancé this Hades person looked like.

A/N: Thank you to BCgurlie, Locket1, xDarklightx, Kourtney Uzu Yato, , ajmcclane193, ElysiumPhoenix, catkin12, Entrusting, charm13insomnia, Halfway To Reality, Village-Mystic, ffchen sarah, DS2010, Firehedgehog, lilly-flower15, acherongoddess, buterflypuss, Silvermane1, MeraHunt, HPSlashAddict (Guest), icyquest4, Almonda, mithrilandtj, Dedicated4reading, julschristine975, lia (Guest), Aire5, Rori Potter, Guest, Vladimir Mithrander, yngoldfogee (Guest), Guest, Maben00, PercyJacksonROCKS4ever, serenityselena, Guest, Winged Dire Wolf7, Merlenyn, Lady Rosencrantz, billi24, avidereader101, Lego Land, noelmurdock, Gracie15Trowa, Kefira-Lux, Ein8sof, aisa.32, SweetMagicMoon, Peetato1989, Shadoee, zababe, edgar12345, mei101, RenaKou2151, GirlyGirlWithAGun, psychobitchlovely, ringoshirayuki9, Akcul, marifg, Bunnycherry95, Phoenix1001, Hoshi-tachi, BlueButterfly2703, , alittlerock, Shadowbrook Road, Star-cat271191, lulucats144 and Sanjihanna for your support.

A/N2: it seems most of you voted for either keeping the chapter length as is or supported me in doing whichever felt right to me (thank you for that). As this is also my preference that's what will happen. I will endeavour to update as near to every third day as I can. Do not fear I will abandon this story I have every intention of finishing it and my track record in finishing stories is pretty good.


	32. Chapter 32

Chapter 32

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or NCIS or any of their characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do NOT give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

-o0o-

"So did you and Tony sort things out?" Hadrian asked putting aside his book when Tim entered the room.

"Sort of, he came to warn me that Abby's been looking up marriage licence applications and is planning to have another go at me about that wretched concert" Tim replied. "He got through the wards so that's got to mean something, doesn't it?" Tim very much wanted to be able to trust his SFA to mean what he said tonight, he missed the friendlier feeling amongst the team. "I'm not sure if he still believed I was lying when he arrived but he believes we're getting married now. He apologised for laughing when I told him I was getting married and he seemed genuinely sorry."

Hadrian smiled, he knew what a blow it had been to Tim not to be on good terms with his team. "Do you want to invite him to the wedding?" he asked.

"No, if it was still a couple of months away then maybe I would, but he hasn't earned my trust again yet" Tim replied thoughtfully. "I told him about the invitation and that I didn't want him there after what had happened. He said he understood."

Hadrian nodded. He didn't offer to put off the wedding, Tim's relationship with Tony wasn't important enough to either of them for that. Instead he pulled Tim into a hug and did his best to distract him and make him feel better.

-o0o-

Tony pulled Ziva aside next morning and tried to talk to her. He felt a little guilty that the hadn't done it yesterday but he'd wanted to sort things out with Tim first. The investigator in him that never ending little voice questioning things wondered why if it had been so important to him during the day it had taken three days to actually manage to visit Tim. That seemed out of character for him, he wasn't the put it off until tomorrow type of guy. It had been hard enough all day not to bring it up because he knew that creating another scene in the bullpen would harm his chances of ever making it up to McGee.

"What's up Tony?" Ziva asked impatiently pulling him out of his introspection.

"Tim's getting married the weekend after Christmas. I think we should have some sort of bachelor party for him. At least get to meet his fiancé before they get married" Tony said.

"So now you suddenly believe in this mysterious marriage too. Why Tony?" Ziva asked genuinely not understanding her colleagues change of opinion.

"He invited Gibbs and Gibbs said he's going to the wedding" Tony replied.

"Don't be ridiculous. He wouldn't invite Gibbs and not us!" Ziva replied.

"Apparently, he did intend to invite us" Tony said sorrowfully. "He had the invitations ready to give us the day he told us about the wedding. He tore them up after how we reacted."

"Tim wouldn't not invite us to his wedding over something so small" Ziva protested.

"It wasn't small to him Ziva. We really hurt him" Tony said. "He's accepted my apology but I can feel that he still doesn't trust me personally."

"No I don't believe you" Ziva declared. "It is not the first of May Tony."

"You mean April fool's day. The first of April" Tony corrected her. "And no I wasn't trying to trick you. McGee really is getting married."

Ziva watched Tony walk off and dismissed what he said. There was no way that Tim would be dating someone without her knowing. Though Tony may have had a point about Tim's feelings being hurt by their reaction to his joke. He hadn't been the same with them since he came back from his shoulder injury.

-o0o-

"Hey McGroom, are you having a buck's night? How does that work with two grooms anyhow? Will you have one buck's party or two separate ones?" Tony asked.

"We weren't planning on having one at all until friends from college found out. They're coming to town to take me out for dinner and drinks this Friday if you want to come" Tim replied.

"Will your fiancé be there?" Tony asked.

"You can call him Hadrian you know" Tim replied shaking his head. "He's not coming. I invited him, but he doesn't drink and he said having him there would defeat the purpose of having a buck's night."

"He doesn't drink, not even a beer or glass of wine after a bad day?" Tony asked astonished.

"He was badly assaulted one night on the way home from the pub after having a few and believes that if he'd been totally sober he wouldn't have been injured. So no, he doesn't drink at all in public" Tim explained. "And rarely in private either."

-o0o-

"Hey Jimmie, Hi Ducky, a couple of my friends from university are taking me out for drinks on Friday night. If you wanted to come?" Tim said. If Tony was going to be there then he wanted support.

"Thank you for the invitation Timothy my boy but I believe I will leave the celebrating to the wedding itself and let you young ones cut loose without me" Ducky replied.

"What about you Jimmie?" Tim asked.

"Um… I don't know… I've got a lot of studying to do?" Jimmie stammered.

"Haven't you just finished exams?" Tim asked. "You don't have to come if you don't want to. I won't be offended but I think you'd like my friends Jimmie, Tony's coming. I'd really like you to be there."

"You and Anthony resolved your differences" Ducky said happily.

"Did you invite him to the wedding?" Jimmie asked.

Tim sighed. "Tony apologised and we talked, and no he isn't invited to the wedding but he wanted to organise me a buck's night if I wasn't having one so I invited him along to my night out."

-o0o-

"Hey Boss, I'm meeting with friends Friday night for dinner and drinks if you'd like to come. You don't have to stay for dinner if you'd just like to come for drinks or vice versa" Tim said.

"The team?" Gibbs asked.

"Tony and Jimmie and some friends from university. Ducky didn't want to come" Tim replied.

"Not Ziva?" Gibbs asked searchingly. He was no longer surprised Abby wasn't invited.

"She hasn't said whether she believes me or not since that first day. Honestly I wouldn't mind having her there but I don't think my college friends could see her as one of the guys the way we often do" Tim replied chuckling at the idea.

"Unfortunately, I've got another appointment" Gibbs replied, not mentioning that Ducky had already told him about the buck's night and that was the reason he'd made other plans.

Tim smiled. "We'll you're welcome if your plans change" he said.

-o0o-

Tony intended to go back to the house to try to meet Tim's fiancé on his own but it never happened. He'd tried to stake out the house a couple of times but something had always come up. If he'd been more aware of what was going on he would have been suspicious how easily his mind had distracted him from his target. He told himself he wanted to meet the man his friend had fallen in love with to understand it better and to make a better second impression than Tim had given his fiancé of Tony DiNozzo. The truth was he was pissed that Tim had shown him in such a negative way that the other man disliked him sight unseen and wanted to prove to the punk that he'd made a mistake.

Eventually Tony gave up on trying to visit Tim's fiancé while Tim wasn't there or waiting to surprise the man as he left the house and managed to grab Tim's phone while he wasn't looking and text his fiancé setting up a meeting.

He pulled up to the coffee shop and walked in early to wait, wondering what Tim's partner was like and whether he'd recognise Tony, and if not how he'd be able to tell which customer was Tim's fiancé.

Hadrian entered Starbucks and nodded to Tony before ordering his coffee.

Coffee in hand he approached the table. "Hello DiNozzo, I'm Hadrian Black" he said holding out his hand.

Tony looked him over. Hadrian was a lot younger than he expected, and short. Overall though there was a sense of inner strength and maturity that stopped him from thinking the younger man would be easily manipulated or intimidated.

"You knew it was me that text?" Tony said surprised when Hadrian joined him.

"I knew it wasn't Tim, so it was a logical guess" Hadrian stated shrugging. "What do you want DiNozzo?"

"Wait a minute, I know you! Where do I know you from?" Tony asked.

"Tim's been driving me into the city and dropping me off near the station by the Navy Yard for the last two years so you've probably seen me about there" Hadrian replied casually.

Tony's eyes narrowed "Where else?" he asked suspiciously.

"Probably out somewhere with Tim given how much time you seem to spend stalking him" Hadrian accused.

Tony laughed. "You're feisty, I see what Tim sees in you" he admitted.

"Tim sees a lot of things in me. Feisty probably isn't one of them" Hadrian retorted. "Why did you want to meet with me?"

"I wanted to know who you were. I needed to be sure Tim isn't making a huge mistake" Tony replied.

"From where I'm standing the only abusive relationships Tim's in are the ones he has with you and Abby Scuito" Hadrian said firmly.

"What are you talking about, I haze him like we all haze probies its part of the law enforcement culture" Tony refuted.

"I'm law enforcement too so I know about hazing the new guy. You've taken it a lot further than acceptable hazing. You need to face it DiNozzo, you're a bully" Hadrian stated. "And it stops now DiNozzo. Tim said the two of you have sorted things out. He's not a new probie anymore Tony. He deserves better than the treatment you've been giving him." The warning in Hadrian's tone was clear and for a moment the young man looked dangerous. Tony shivered.

"I'll treat him better" Tony promised. "But you know I tease everyone. It isn't personal."

"Teasing is fine. Personal attacks are not. And the next time Abby has a go at him listen to both sides before you support her actions. And I'd take a good look at the way you treat Tim because I can't believe you'd get away with treating many people that badly without serious retaliation."

Hadrian got to his feet and walked out. It was only after he left that Tony realised that he hadn't even managed to ask any of the questions he had let alone get any answers.

-o0o-

Tony offered Jimmie a lift to Tim's buck's night so he wouldn't have to walk in alone since it seemed Tim really wanted him to come. They were running a little late and Tim was surrounded by a fairly large group of friends.

"Hey Tony, Jimmie, welcome. Guys these are my work colleagues, Tony DiNozzo and Jimmie Palmer. Jimmie this is my fiancé Hadrian, and next to him is Jason, Callum, Trent and Lloyd who I went to MIT with and Joseph and Vincent who I met at Johns Hopkins, and Tyler and Keith from FLETC" Tim rushed through the introductions.

Tony and Jimmie turned to Hadrian. "Pleased to meet you. Tim said you weren't coming" Jimmie said nervously.

"Pleased to meet you too Jimmie" Hadrian said laughing. "I'm not staying. I need to get home and spend some time with my son but Tim wanted me to meet his friends." He handed over a card with his number. "Call me if I need to come and pick Tim up at the end of the night."

"Will you be able to leave your little boy?" Jimmie asked.

"We have a live in babysitter, so it will be fine" Hadrian replied.

"Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo" Tony said holding out his hand. Tim's friends each introduced himself and shook his hand.

"SSA Hadrian Black" Hadrian introduced himself formally. Tony realised that Hadrian hadn't told Tim about their meeting in the coffee shop.

Jimmie looked at the man, his first impression before being introduced is that one of Tim's friends had brought his kid with him. The man was tiny. On being introduced however he could see the maturity of an adult, though he still looked way too young to be getting married, let alone already have a son.

"Tim hasn't told us much about you" Jimmie said fishing for information.

"Not surprising, he's told me a lot about you both" Hadrian replied dryly.

"Ouch" Tony said acknowledging the hit.

Hadrian smiled at Jimmie, "He's been grateful for your support." He said to the shy man.

Jimmie blushed and stammered.

"How'd you meet Tim?" Trent asked Hadrian.

"We sat next to each other on a flight from London. Neither of us felt like reading so we talked the whole way" Hadrian said circumspectly, remembering. That Tim did not want his team to know he was a successful author. "How did you meet Tim?"

"He was my lab partner in freshman year." Trent laughed depreciatingly. "I got the top SATs on record for my high school. I thought I was a genius and then I'm allocated this fifteen-year-old kid who got a freaking perfect score and could think rings around me without even trying. I could have hated him if he wasn't so freaking nice about it."

Hadrian smiled. "So it's not just me that feels stupid in comparison?" He asked relieved.

"No I bet half the guys here tonight do if they'd admit it" Trent said. "It'd be one thing if he was scary smart at science or computers but then he decided to be an agent and he's on one of the top investigative teams in DC, and then he writes a freaking novel and it's a best seller. Is there anything he can't do?"

Hadrian shrugged. "He isn't much of a cook" he said. "But I'd keep quiet about the novels, he doesn't want his team to know."

Trent laughed. "I like you. What do you do for a living?"

"I currently consult for the FBI and Interpol. Mostly I want to be a stay at home dad for a couple of years. Teddy's only just come to live with us a few months ago and he's settling in well but I feel he deserves my attention for a while. And on that note I should go home to him."

"Nice to meet you Hadrian. Hope the wedding goes well" Trent said slapping him on the shoulder.

"Thanks Trent. Here's my number if you need help getting Tim home later."

Hadrian text Tim that he was leaving and Tim detached himself from his friends to walk him out.

"Thanks for coming" Tim said.

"It was nice to meet your friends" Hadrian said. "Have fun. Jimmie and Trent both have my number if you need a ride home."

"You could stay" Tim suggested.

"It's your night to cut loose with your friends. Having me here not drinking would interfere with that. You'd be too busy worrying about me. Besides the smoke isn't good for the baby" Hadrian reminded him gently.

Tim leaned in to kiss him generating cat calls from his friends. "Take care. Love you."

"I love you" Hadrian replied grinning. "I've warned several of your friends they need to bring you home in one piece, so I'll see you tonight."

Tim laughed, wondering if any of his friends had taken Hades seriously. Many people didn't realise how fiercely protective the smaller man was towards his family.

Tim returned to the bar and the others finished their drinks and headed into the dining area. Tim drank white wine with dinner, barely aware that his friends were topping up his glass as often as they were. Discussion was general, while Tim hadn't seen most of these friends for several months, thanks to Hadrian's encouragement he had taken the effort to keep in touch with them more in the last few years and they'd all met Hadrian either in person or over Skype and approved of the effect the younger man had on their friend. Once Tim was tipsy enough to be less than discrete Vincent and Joseph coaxed him into telling them how he and Hadrian had got together. They moved on to reminiscing about college days and played a few drinking games which Tim had limited experience with having been so young when he went to college. Tim enjoyed himself letting loose around his friends though his natural sense of propriety stopped him sharing any intimate details of his relationship no matter how drunk he got. Tony sat back and let Tim's other friends interrogate him. Learning more about the man who'd been his junior agent for the last three years. It seemed that in spite of being openly bisexual in college Tim had had no shortage of dates with girls, all of which had seemed to fail in spectacular ways.

"So your luck with the ladies isn't new" Tony asked amused.

"Guys are easier" Tim admitted.

"Is that why you're with Hadrian, because it's easy?" Callum asked.

"It is easy, easier than anything I've ever done before" Tim said thoughtfully, "but even when it wasn't easy it was impossible to walk away. Being with Hadrian is everything I ever wanted. He's essential."

"You're not making a lot of sense" Lloyd commented.

"I'm drunk" Tim replied after thinking this over.

The others laughed. "Not drunk enough if you're thinking so philosophically" Keith said pressing Tim's wineglass into his hand.

"Let's play another game" Tyler suggested.

"What about 'I never'" Jimmie said enthusiastically.

They soon found that being bisexual was a huge disadvantage when playing I never, at least when playing with this group as Tim was the one person who'd tried just about everything any of them suggested and he soon found himself nearing passing out.

Jimmie called Hadrian. "I think you need to come and get Tim" he said nervously.

"He wants to come home?" Hadrian asked surprised.

"No but the guys have been playing some drinking game forcing him to drink shots and if he doesn't stop soon he's going to end up with alcohol poisoning" Jimmie replied.

"Where are you?" Hadrian asked worriedly.

"Still at JoJo's" Jimmie replied.

"Be there in five" Hadrian replied.

Hadrian quickly pulled on his shoes and apparated to the alley around the corner from the pub. He'd left the SUV there earlier.

He entered the pub to find Tim wavering on his feet with a couple of girls attempting to flirt with him and the other guys. Hadrian just made a beeline for his fiancé kissing him on the mouth and dragging him into the toilets where he locked them in a cubicle and quickly spelled the contents of Tim's stomach out of him and a couple of sobering charms. "Hey" Tim protested.

Hadrian kissed him again. "I left you with a bit of a buzz" he said. "Are you ready to come home."

"What time is it?" Tim asked.

"Still early, Jimmie rang he was worried you were going to end up with alcohol poisoning" Hadrian replied.

"Yeah I think I am" Tim said slowly, careful to enunciate properly.

Hadrian laughed. "I've sobered you up quite a bit. Jimmie was right to be worried."

"Please tell me we're driving home" Tim begged.

"I'm driving" Hadrian confirmed. "Did anyone take you up on the offer to stay at the house?"

"No they've book a hotel room up the road" Tim replied.

They left the bathroom and arrived back to hoots and cat calls. Tim blushed furiously.

"We're headed home" Hadrian replied blushing too. "Does anyone need a ride home?"

"It's out of your way" Jimmie said anxiously.

"Never mind that" Hadrian replied. "What about you Tony?"

"I live in Anacostia, Silver Springs is in the opposite direction" Tony replied.

"How are you going to get home?" Hadrian asked.

"I'll call a cab" Tony said.

"Come home with us" Tim invited.

"I live closer, you could stay with me if Hadrian is happy to drive us."

Tony remembered what Tim had told him about Hadrian having reacted badly to being assaulted on the way home from the pub and realised the younger man was too concerned about their safety to relax letting them find their own way home. Thanks" he said. "Want me to help carry McDrunk here?"

Hadrian gave him a withering glare. "I'll manage."

They got to the car and Tony was perturbed to hear Tim coaching him how to pull out of the car space. "You do have your licence, don't you?"

"Yeah, though I'm not supposed to drive after twelve unless I'm coming home from work" Hadrian replied.

"You only just got your licence?" Jimmie asked.

"Yeah well my relatives would rather run over me than teach me to drive and there wasn't much need for it in London" Hadrian said casually.

Hadrian pulled out and drove smoothly towards Tony's. "Who taught you to drive?" Tony asked seeing the speedometer edging close to 100 miles per hour on the icy roads.

"Tim" Hadrian replied. "Why?"

"McSlowcoach taught you to drive like this?" Tony asked astounded.

"Tim did a great job of teaching me to drive" Hadrian said crossly. "I'm not driving like Ziva but we can go faster if you like."

Tony blanched at the threat. "No this is fast enough."

Once he got used to the speed he noticed that Hadrian was driving a lot like Gibbs did, very smoothly, slowing down when he needed to and there were no near misses with other cars or the edge of the road. He also seemed to know his way around very well not needing any directions other than the address which was good because the GPS would never have kept up with the speed he was travelling. They dropped tony at his apartment and then took Jimmie home.

"Thanks for the lift" Jimmie said.

"You're welcome. Thanks for looking out for Tim tonight" Hadrian replied.

"I had fun, his friends are a good group of guys" Jimmie said.

"Yeah I expect they are, though I've only really met them over skype before tonight. Still I was glad you were there" Hadrian replied.

"You know he wasn't flirting with those girls, right? The other guys were encouraging him and told them it was his buck's night" Jimmie said.

Hadrian smiled confidently. "I know. He's not in trouble for anything he might have got up to tonight, though he may regret the amount of alcohol in the morning."

Jimmie laughed. "He won't be the only one. I just pray we don't get called in."

Hadrian wished he could give Tim's friend a hangover cure potion but it wouldn't have worked even if he did, there wasn't a scrap of magic in the man. "Good night Jimmie. See you at the wedding" he said.

"Night Hadrian, it was nice to meet you" Jimmie replied getting out. Hadrian watched until he entered the building before driving away.

-o0o-

They arrived home and Hadrian made Tim shower and drink several glasses of water before tucking him into bed and casting another sobering charm and a mild sleeping charm. He left the hangover potion on the bedside table and snuggled in beside him knowing it would only be about six hours until an energetic toddler had them up and going again. They still had a few last minute things to do before Christmas and then to pack for Boston where they would be staying for the few days before the wedding to finalise everything. Hadrian was exhausted even thinking about it all, the baby and the glamours he now had to wear in public starting to tire him out more easily these days.

-o0o-

A/N: Thank you to Kourtney Uzu Yato, Dedicated4reading, Almonda, julschristine975, Poisonsnake23, xDarklightx, ElysiumPhoenix, Lientjuhh, Firehedgehog, Locket1, icyquest4, Rori Potter, Winged Dire Wolf7, serenityselena, buterflypuss, Maben00, lilly-flower15, Vladimir Mithrander, Dilligas762, notsofrilly, Village-Mystic, Selenity84, BCgurlie, Afrodity, Gracie15Trowa, .9, charm13insomnia, DS2010, acherongoddess, Silvermane1, Sliver of Melody, PercyJacksonROCKS4ever, annie (Guest), Roseannie0408, BrokenMirror97, Fandog86, Liryo, poanna27, werewolf cub selene, Lyn1991, me no aoi, Tya Katrine Bell, stefanialilly, Blackfire283, Akuma Yuki Kitsune, Enilrahc, faireboiz1, blackcat19 **,** MissLexi54, Shining Moon in Shadow,Blackest of the Soul, TaosBattleKin, discussionsonpaper, moonjess, Rowan Valadosa, naruto12naruto, Lord Bloody Shadow, Silkylove13, wanderingfinn, , MsBookworm71, snapelouver, Sky2294, Pielover515 and Myujikaru Sakura for your support.


	33. Chapter 33

Chapter 33

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or NCIS or any of their characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do NOT give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

-o0o-

Hadrian, Tim and Teddy had a quiet Yule celebration on the 22nd. Hadrian had harvested a log from one of the old trees on the Boston estate that had blown over during the winter storms and decorated the house with holly and mistletoe. And served roast pork with apples, nutmeg and cinnamon cookies and alcohol free eggnog and cider. Tim was surprised to see how many Christmas traditions were actually much older parts of the pagan celebration of the winter solstice. Hadrian gave Teddy the gifts his grandmother had put away for her grandson and shared with Tim the gifts she'd bought for him. Teddy was sad at the reminder of his grandmother but Tim reassured Hadrian that he'd done the right thing in reminding the little boy how much Andi had loved him.

"What other things do people do to celebrate Yule?" Tim asked.

"Well they go from house to house wassailing and bearing gifts of apples and oranges and evergreens. And of course, there is decorating the evergreen Yule tree" Hadrian said gesturing to their Christmas tree.

"Wassailing?" Tim asked.

"Drinking, partying and singing. Like the carollers but different songs of course. Andi used to sing to Teddy but I don't know the songs she sang."

I could try to look up some wassailing songs if you wanted" Tim offered knowing that this was a piece of Hadrian's heritage that he'd lost when his father died.

"I'm not much of a singer and if Teddy's to go to a mundane primary school he'd be better of learning Christmas carols than pagan worshipping" Hadrian replied. "It's okay, I was brought up Christian though I have to admit I'm more of an agnostic. I gave up believing as a child, I'd always prayed that someone would come and take me away from the Dursleys and when nobody did I couldn't see the point in praying any more. But I want Teddy to grow up believing in Santa and all the other good things about Christmas."

"You want to take him to church Christmas morning?" Tim asked.

Hadrian shrugged. "I hated church as a kid all the people staring at me, you could almost feel the dislike pouring out of them" he replied. "I know now that it was because Vernon and Petunia lied to everyone about what a horrible child I was but I didn't understand at the time. All I know was they were like the Dursleys and I couldn't trust any of them. But find me a church where I can introduce you as my husband and hold your hand while walking in without getting any dirty looks then I'll happily give it a try."

"That's a no for this year then" Tim conceded.

"Teddy's going to face enough prejudice and discrimination for having two Dads without us taking him to places that encourage it" Hadrian replied.

"We'll help him deal with it" Tim promised. "At least he'll always know we both love him. I'll do some investigating and we'll find a school that he'll be safe at."

-o0o-

Because Tim was working Christmas day and Teddy was too young to know the difference, Tim and Hadrian decided that for them Christmas this year would fall on the twenty-sixth instead. They had debated going to Boston as soon as Tim finished work and having Christmas there but Hadrian wanted to have Christmas in their own home. He and Teddy spent several days while Tim was at work apparating to Boston to take care of wedding details and everything that could be done before the day had been completed. The elves had done a fantastic job of rewiring the parts of the house they'd be using and would be rewiring the rest in the new year. The conservatory looked even better than the illusion Quincy had shown them and his helpers had also managed to string bud lights in various pastel colours though the branches of the deciduous trees that could be seen out the windows. It looked magical with the snow on the ground. The tables had all been set up and the loungeroom was also finished and refurnished in case it was snowing on the day. Both areas had been tastefully decorated, the cake was in stasis in the pantry, the champagne chilling, the menu finalised and preparation for the cooking well underway, flights and transport from the airport for their guests organised, even the suits for the wedding had been taken to Boston and laid out in the rooms allocated for them to get ready in. All the two men had to do was arrive.

'Christmas' morning started early, almost two early for the men that had spent most of the night putting together a tricycle and climbing equipment. Tim and Hadrian were almost more excited than Teddy who really didn't understand the whole thing. They'd bought permanent play equipment to replace the conjured climbing toy in the ballroom partly to give him a new challenge and partly because the time was coming when Hadrian would have to limit the amount of magic he was using as his pregnancy progressed. They also bought ride on toys and puzzles and more story books. Of course, like all small children Teddy's favourite plaything was the boxes the toys came in which he happily built a fort with. Hadrian had made finger foods that he could heat up quickly for breakfast not wanting to miss out on a minute of their first Christmas with Teddy. That turned out to be a good thing as Teddy was too excited to settle down long enough to eat. The three of them spent the morning playing, Hadrian had done as much of the preparation for Christmas dinner as he could in advance while Teddy had napped the day before but decided to let the house elves cook the meal so he could spend the day with his family.

They sat down for their feast, there was really no other way to describe it, about three after Teddy woke up from his nap. Hadrian and Tim had also laid down while Teddy was sleeping. They hadn't intended to actually sleep but the late night combined with the pregnancy soon had Hadrian dozing off and Tim rapidly followed. Tim felt guilty about the excess but Hadrian reassured him that the elves could put the leftovers in stasis until they got back from Boston, or could deliver them to one of the homeless shelters if Tim preferred it.

They ate too much as everyone does at Christmas and spent a quiet afternoon, the three of them cuddled up on the couch watching Christmas movies on the television. As soon as Teddy was asleep they put him to bed and spent the rest of the evening making love.

-o0o-

They apparated to Boston first thing next morning for one final meeting with the celebrant. He'd been quite impressed with the level of agreement in the two's future plans and dreams, their philosophies towards child rearing and their attitude towards their relationship. They also discussed Tim's reservations about their financial contributions to their marriage and home and Hadrian pointed out that as a percentage of their income he actually invested less than Tim. Needless to say Tim wasn't impressed with the argument, though he understood that trying to bring up a family on only his wages would be an unnecessary hardship. In the end the celebrant was impressed with the level of compromise and understanding they'd reached. Tim would contribute what he could to their relationship and Teddy and their expected new baby and Hadrian valued his contributions financial and non financial seeing them as equal partners in everything. Hadrian had offered to put money into an account for Tim so he could make financial decisions for them too but Tim declined saying that it would still feel like Hadrian's money.

"That's how I feel too! I have all this money people died and left me but it still feels like their money. I certainly have done nothing to earn it. And other than supporting Andi, helping Ron and Hermione with their expenses, the house and the renovations here I haven't spent anything except my salary since I started working at nineteen" Hadrian said.

"I guess it's just the house in DC and all this that hit me" Tim said. "I didn't even realise how much money you had until you bought the house."

"If it really makes you uncomfortable I can sell it and we'll move somewhere smaller. There's a house near Jimmie's I saw the other night for sale that might be worth a look" Hadrian offered. "I can't sell this place, it's entailed but I could rent it out or turn it into a private hotel and function centre if you know someone you'd trust to run it."

"No I wouldn't want the hassle of trying to oversee a business like that from a distance" Tim replied. "I know it seems a pity to leave it empty most of the year but I don't know what else to do with it."

"I looked into it. We could lease it to the historical society to show, or dig up all the garden and lease the land to the farmer behind us for crops or cattle" Hadrian replied. "That or hopefully one of our children or grandchildren will want to live in it one day. It would make a bit of an extravagant housing option for Teddy and his friends if he ever got into MIT."

Tim laughed at the idea of such a fancy house becoming student accommodation, it was a bit too far from the universities but without rent to pay that wouldn't matter.

"I don't think this is an issue that can be resolved" Tim told the celebrant. "It was good to talk about it openly and it helps that Hadrian understands what I'm feeling. I honestly don't think this is going to be a problem going on."

"What about you Hadrian, do you think that knowing Tim is uncomfortable with your money will curb your spending, and if it does will you resent Tim for his feelings?" the celebrant asked.

"Honestly no" Hadrian replied. "If he was being unreasonable and wanting us to rent a two bedroom apartment rather than live in a house it would be different but I don't have extravagant tastes I'm happy living a quiet middle class life. It's really all I've ever wanted."

"Okay then. I think you're ready to get married tomorrow. Have you chosen your vows?" the celebrant said cheerfully.

"Yes these" Tim said handing over a printed copy of the vows they wanted. After much discussion, they had decided to use the same vows as they used for their bonding. They said everything they wanted to promise to each other and it didn't make sense to add to them. They had tried saying them with Tim's phone recording them and Teddy and Tollie watching to make sure that repeating the vows didn't cause another flash of magic, which it didn't.

"These are lovely" the celebrant said. "It is quite a commitment to make. Have you decided which of you will go first?"

They both shook their heads "It doesn't matter to me" Hadrian said.

"Me either" Tim agreed.

"Yes but it is best to have these things sorted out before the wedding" the celebrant replied.

The couple looked at each other for a moment each wanting to be sure it really didn't matter to the other. Finally, Tim pulled out a quarter, "heads or tails?" he asked.

"Tails" Hadrian replied grinning.

"You can't decide these things by tossing a coin" the celebrant exclaimed horrified. "Go and discuss it and let me know tomorrow before the ceremony. Now how are you planning to start the service is one of you going to wait at the front for the other?" he asked avoiding the phrase walk down the aisle.

"I don't like the idea of one of us waiting at the front for the other like a groom waiting for a bride" Tim replied.

"The conservatory only has one entrance" Hadrian said thoughtfully. What if we meet in the lounge outside the conservatory and enter together?" Hadrian suggested.

"And do you have a ring bearer? Or would you like me to hold onto the rings?" the celebrant asked.

"Tim and I will hold each other's rings" Hadrian said. He literally couldn't leave his head of house ring with another person for more than twenty-four hours without it returning itself to his bank vault in London not to mention that the ring would kill the celebrant if he tried to put it on.

"Well that seems everything sorted. Text me before the ceremony if you have any other questions or ideas otherwise I'll be in the conservatory waiting for you just before three o'clock" the celebrant said taking his leave.

As soon as he was gone Tim pulled out the coin, "Do you have a preference for saying you vows before or after me?" he asked.

Hadrian shook his head and Tim flipped the coin. "Tails, you're going first" he said smiling. Hadrian smiled agreeably and Tim text the celebrant the news.

-o0o-

Tim left just after an early lunch to pick his sister up from the airport. She'd be staying with them for a week before heading back to college to start the new semester. She had worried about intruding on the newlyweds but Tim reminded her that they'd been living together for the last two years and that he'd missed his little sister, who he'd been inviting to come for dinner or to stay the weekend since they moved into the house. Hadrian had decided not to go to the airport, partly because he wanted the siblings to have some time to themselves and partly because he knew that Tim's grandmother Penny was due in on a flight just twenty minutes after Sarah's. Hadrian and Sarah had been conspiring via telephone for the last few weeks and sworn each other to secrecy wanting to surprise Tim. Tim hadn't met either Sarah or Penny but felt he had got to know them both in organising this surprise for Tim but he didn't want to meet them for the first time in the middle of a busy airport. Not to mention that without being able to tell them about the wizarding world, and therefore house elves, they couldn't explain leaving Teddy at home alone.

Hadrian kept himself busy meeting with Quincy about further modernisation of the rooms they weren't going to use for the wedding, and general maintenance of the house and outbuildings that would need to be done over the next ten years. "The wardses needs updating. They's not so bad as yous house but they shoulds be done within the next twenty years" Quincy also told him.

"Can I set up with you or the goblins that they're done in say fifteen years time, or should I do it now so it doesn't get forgotton, how long do wards last anyway?" Hadrian asked.

"They's last about two hundred years if the house isn't attackeds. War wards should be addeds to every fifty years" Quincy replied.

"Does this house have war wards, and for that matter does our house in DC?" Hadrian asked.

"Yous house does" Quincy confirmed. "This house dids in the past but theys not be working now."

"Well we need to fix that. I should have asked you about them when we first saw the house" Hadrian said worriedly.

"I'se tells the house elfs to takes you all away if the house be attacked" Quincy suggested.

"Well that would certainly blow the statute of secrecy but if it kept everyone safe" Hadrian agreed.

"Do you know if I have any other properties in America?" Hadrian asked.

"Yous owns a beach shack in Hawaii ands a Ski lodge in Aspen but theys both be leased outs" Quincy replied.

-o0o-

"Tim?" Sarah yelled running up and jumping on her big brother.

"Sarah?" Tim said. "Get off?"

Sarah laughed. "You're looking good Tim" she said.

"So are you?" Tim said smiling. "Did you check luggage?"

"Yeah" Sarah replied. She'd checked a suitcase mostly so that she'd have a reason to keep Tim at the airport a little longer.

They collected her suitcase and Sarah insisted she needed a decent coffee before going anywhere. "Tim grumbled a little but indulged her. Sarah kept an eye on the arrival boards as she took her time with her coffee. Finally, as she finished it they were joined by an older woman.

"Penny!" Tim exclaimed, "You came!"

"You're getting married Tim, how could I stay away" Penny said kissing his cheek. "But I must ask are you sure Tim. Leg shackling is such a bourgeois concept."

"I'm sure Penny" Tim said chuckling.

"Well at least he doesn't sound like the perfect little wife" Penny said amused.

"You'll like him Penny" Tim said enthusiastically.

"Did you want coffee before we go?" Sarah asked. She'd never been as close to her grandmother as Tim had been, Tim had spent summers with the Admiral and Penny but by the time she was old enough to remember the Admiral had died and Penny had been travelling all over the globe.

"I do have some very good coffee at home and it is only twenty minutes" Tim said.

"Well how else was I supposed to delay you" Sarah said laughing.

"So I take it I don't need to ring Hades and have him make up a room for you?" Tim asked.

"No darling he's expecting me" Penny replied.

-o0o-

Hadrian was trying to distract himself from worrying about meeting Tim's family and the impression he was going to make. He was playing with Teddy in the ball room. Trying to use up some of the child's excess energy. Knowing airlines at this time of year and the fact that Tim was meeting two separate planes he didn't expect Tim back for another forty minutes or so.

It wasn't one of the rooms that had been renovated so there wasn't any electricity but the dance floor had been meticulously maintained and Hadrian was teaching Teddy to skate, sliding around in their socks. The little boy was shrieking with laughter so loudly that they didn't hear Tim arrive home.

Tim and his family followed the sound of laughter to the old ballroom. Taking in the scene Sarah laughed delightedly and pulled off her boots to join the boys sliding. Hadrian came to an abrupt halt and would have fallen if Tim hadn't been close enough to catch him.

"You need to be more careful" he said quietly. "You can't afford to fall over."

Hadrian leaned over as if to kiss Tim's cheek. "Cushioning charms" he whispered.

"Hades I'd like you to meet my father's mother Penny and my sister Sarah" Tim introduced, carefully avoiding the dreaded word 'grandmother'. "Penny, Sarah, this is my fiancé Hadrian and his godson Teddy."

"Pleased to meet you Penny, I'm glad you could come" Hadrian said holding out his hand. "Good to see you again Sarah."

Sarah looked surprised for a moment before remembering the young man she'd chatted with one night when she'd gone to have collect her laptop that Tim had fixed for her and he'd been called in to work unexpectedly. Hadrian said he lived upstairs and had offered to wait and meet her to give back the computer, he'd also packaged up the meal he said Tim had cooked for the two of them for her. "Were you dating my brother when we met?" she demanded.

"No I'd only just arrived in the country and Tim was one of the few friends I'd made" Hadrian replied. "I didn't remember meeting you until I saw you just now."

"Well it's good to finally meet you properly" Sarah said hugging him. Hadrian stuttered for a moment before hugging Sarah back.

"It is lovely to meet you" Penny said.

"State! Tim state" Teddy demanded going up to Tim.

"Hey Teddy" Tim said picking up the little boy, "Can you say hello to my sister Sarah and to Penny"

"Hello" Teddy said shyly.

"Hello little man" Penny said. "Where's your parents?"

"Tim and I are his guardians" Hadrian replied. "It's a long story."

"You're happy with this Tim?" Penny asked.

"Yes" Tim said certainly.

"You always wanted a family, that was my biggest concern when you said you were marrying a man" Sarah said happily.

"Yeah we're going to adopt a baby as well" Tim said giving them the cover story for the baby.

"You're on the waiting lists. I could help move you up the list in a couple of the countries I have connections in" Penny offered.

"That's not necessary. Our baby is already on the way" Hadrian said. "It's due in June."

"That's wonderful" Penny said sounding less than totally sincere though she was trying to smile.

"It is Tim" Sarah agreed hugging her brother and then surprising Hadrian by turning and hugging him as well.

"This room is great fun" Sarah said looking around the ballroom. "but isn't it a bit drab for a wedding?"

"We're not getting married in here we've only invited a handful of people, neither of us wanted anything big and fancy" Tim replied chuckling.

"This is rather a fancy house for a small wedding" Penny said.

"Two hundred years ago there were eighteen Potters living here plus I don't know how many servants" Hadrian said. "The estate's entailed so I can't sell it which seems particularly wasteful when you consider We were the first Member of the family to set foot here since it was reabsorbed by my branch of the family forty years ago."

"Do you have a grand house like this in England too?" Sarah asked curiously.

"No, Black Manor was destroyed in the war and never rebuilt" Hadrian said shrugging and some miserly Potter decided to move out of Potter Keep and let it fall down rather than paying the ruinous maintenance costs about five hundred years ago and enterprising descendants built rows of cheap rental housing over a lot of it."

"So do you have a title?" Sarah asked.

"Several obsolete titles, nothing that's in current use" Hadrian replied, not mentioning that it was he himself that chose not to use the titles.

"How can one person have several titles" Sarah huffed.

"Usually by being the sole survivor of more than one titled ancestor" Tim said abruptly. "I'm sure Hades would rather have family members to invite to the wedding than a list of names and titles."

"Speaking of families did you invite your mother and father? When are they arriving?" Penny asked.

"I didn't!" Tim said.

"I thought you and Thomas were finally getting along" Penny said.

"We're on civil speaking terms precisely because he doesn't know about my lifestyle choices" Tim said bluntly.

"You really believe he'd be so prejudiced?" Sarah said sadly.

"Not believe, know" Tim said sadly.

Tim had decided to attempt to invite his parents to the wedding. They'd met with the Admiral when he was in town recently and introduced Hadrian and invited him to the wedding. Things had gone badly and Hadrian had obliviated the Admiral after he had disowned Tim and tried to assault him.

Hadrian had apparated them both to Hawaii after healing the bruises on Tim's face so he could visit his mother. Tim hadn't even been able to bring up Hadrian and their engagement. Heather had refused to keep anything secret from her husband no matter how much Tim tried to explain that knowing would cause Thomas to disown his son permanently this time. He'd called Hadrian and got her to obliviate the whole visit from her mind after Heather had confessed to agreeing with Thomas that Tim should have his magic bound.

"What about your mother, are you really going to deny her the chance to see her only son get married?" Penny asked.

"Why do you care? You don't even like Mom?" Sarah said.

"I'll admit Heather and I have had our differences over the years" Penny agreed. "But Tim, not having your parents here is something you may regret for the rest of your lives."

"Mom wouldn't come without the Admiral, and he wouldn't come once he found out Hadrian was a man" Tim said uncompromisingly. "Don't argue with me on this Penny. You know I'm right. How you could bring up a son so bigoted as Thomas McGee I'll never know."

Penny went to speak again but Tim held up his hand to silence her.

"I'll show you to your rooms" Hadrian offered. "Have you had lunch or should I ask the cook to send you up a light meal?"

A/N: Thank you to Rori Potter, buterflypuss, acherongoddess, Almonda, julschristine975, ThePizzaManToughtMe, geetac, Kourtney Uzu Yato, Dedicated4reading, charm13insomnia, ElysiumPhoenix, lilly-flower15, .9, Bella216, lia (Guest), xDarklightx, Firehedgehog, DS2010, Locket1, Gracie15Trowa, Maben00, Village-Mystic, DevilishAngel666, serenityselena, Guest, Merlenyn, PercyJacksonROCKS4ever, Silvermane1, livingwitchfun, Darknessthorn, Winnipegstorm, sweetcookies82, carissacrain, Rain-Insanity, , mare01, thecresentrose, ECK24, utopie-chan, zero02, snowstorm67, USA-Jeanette, Lord Curly, kira690, nemolous, Starlitmagic, almost-alive, griffincub, fitzie, tvxq1gurl, Black Sparrow, cwalla22, wolfco and ageb32 for your support.


	34. Chapter 34

Chapter 34

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or NCIS or any of their characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do NOT give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

Hadrian apparated to the assigned meeting point to meet his guests. Kingsley and Sir Geoffrey arrived with Neville.

"Nev" Hadrian said hugging him shocked. "I'm glad you could make it" he looked at Kingsley questioningly.

"Neville is on an intensive training course for learning to work with muggles" Kingsley reported. "I took the liberty of running with your idea and having Neville and several other Aurors forced to spend a weekend with a muggleborn trained in obliviations in muggle environment over the next few weeks, anyone that causes the obliviator to have to obliviate a muggle will be reprimanded and sent back to the academy for three months' refresher training on half pay."

Hadrian laughed and nodded his agreement. "It will do most of them a lot of good. They need to learn how to operate in this modern world without obliviating someone every time they give themselves away. The spread of CCTV is going to expose us all."

"I feel guilty lying to Hannah" Neville reported.

"Can you lie to her?" Hadrian asked.

"Not if she asks me a direct question but she has no reason to ask if I saw you" Neville said.

"If it helps, everyone here calls me Hadrian so you could refer to me that way" Hadrian suggested.

"Why?" Neville asked.

"We'll it is my name" Hadrian said. "I found out after the war when I went to Gringotts to sort out my estate and the damages from breaking into Bellatrix's vault and stealing the dragon. I wanted a fresh start and it felt good using the name my parents gave me."

"I don't even know how your managed to avoid being thrown in their prison for that" Neville replied.

"It's classified" Kingsley stated before Hadrian could.

"Well you might have used muggle training as an excuse but you're going to have to put it into practice here. Tim has a couple of workmates coming. They're muggles, though that word is heavily frowned upon here, the correct term is non-magical. The problem is they're also the Navy's top criminal investigative team so they're super observant. Are you going to be able to pass for a muggle?"

"I've taken his wand" Kingsley reassured him.

"Passing for non-magical for more than a few minutes is more than not using magic" Hadrian warned worriedly. "It's knowing how to turn on the taps and the lights in a normal house, not mentioning creatures that the non-magical world believes don't exist in their world, using normal non-magical swear words, having a nonmagical job and knowing enough about the nonmagical world to carry on conversation about current events. Being British is a good excuse for not following American politics or sports but Tim used to say he thought I must have grown up under a rock to not know all the other things I should."

"Would you rather we not have come?" Neville asked uncertainly.

"No I'm glad you're here. I just don't want to have to obliviate Tim's friends and family. I remember when we went to the world cup before fourth year the camp manager had been obliviated almost into imbecility. Hermione and I went back and met him again as part of a research project she was doing and he never fully recovered. He was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's, a muggle disease that causes permanent decline in the ability to make new memories, and permanently hospitalised." Hadrian said earnestly.

"Like my parents" Neville asked.

"Not so bad as they are but yes" Hadrian said gently.

"You mean wizards, good wizards did that out of carelessness?" Neville asked horrified.

"To keep the statute of secrecy" Kingsley said.

"Because pure blood wizards in Britain refuse to learn to blend in with muggles" Sir Geoffrey said furiously.

"Not just the purebloods. Dumbledore and now McGonagall refuse to update the muggle studies course and make it mandatory" Hadrian replied. "Even the ministry doesn't take the risks of the non-magical world seriously."

Hadrian drove them back to the house giving them a crash course in what was going on in the world. He showed them to their rooms and the others joined him as he spent a little time showing Neville how the light switches, TV and bathroom taps and toilet worked. "There are house elves here that know about hiding from the non-magical guests but they mustn't be seen by the muggles so make sure you're alone before you call them. Kingsley I'm sorry your room doesn't have any muggle amenities, we were only expecting two of you and I think it's more important for Neville to have the muggle room as you already know most of this. It will help with his 'training'"

"That's fine Harry" Kingsley agreed.

"Thanks Harry. I'll try to behave like a muggle" Neville said.

"I know you will" Hadrian replied. "Thanks for coming Nev. I know it was a lot to ask not telling Hannah."

Neville sighed. "I love her dearly but I have to admit she's nearly as bug a gossip as Lavender and Parvati, I wouldn't trust her to keep it a secret either. You're still listed as 'Witch Weekly's most eligible bachelor'. We didn't use the old vows so she doesn't have to obey me."

"I'm glad you didn't" Hadrian said. "I just wish I'd been able to warn Hermione not to vow to obey Ron."

"I never thought she's go for the old vows" Neville agreed. "I take it from their absence that they weren't invited to the wedding."

"I couldn't invite Hermione without Ron, and she couldn't come anyway. It's not safe for her to take an international portkey this late in her pregnancy" Hadrian said. "I can't say I wasn't relieved to have the excuse though."

Neville chuckled. "I don't think that's going to help with Ron when he finds out."

"I think Ron's going to be a lot more upset and angry that I married a man than that I didn't invite him to the wedding" Hadrian said. He hoped that Kingsley has told him Tim's fiancé was a man and that Neville would be okay with it.

"I can't say I understand it but I've never seen you this happy" Neville said. "My Uncle Algie and his best friend were secretly in love and could never admit it to society. They married the witches their father's picked out for them and pretended to everyone to be just friends but I walked in on them one day the summer after third year and they explained it to me. "

"Your support means a lot to me" Hadrian said smiling at his friend, He moved to give him a hug and then thought better of it.

Neville noticed and hugged his old school room mate. "You've never made me feel you were interested in me, or made me feel uncomfortable" he said.

"No I never had time to be really interested in anyone" Hadrian said. "I was lucky that my puberty was delayed due to my relatives' treatment of me so that I found out that it wasn't acceptable before I thought about who I might be interested in. Hermione explained what homosexuality was to Ron one night and he was so completely grossed out that it put him off his food. After that I couldn't bring myself to tell him I was bisexual. Though after finding out about the love potions I can't honestly say I've ever been truly attracted to a woman other than my crush on Cho which was more about the way she played quidditch."

"I didn't think that it was even possible to put Ron the Mouth off his food" Neville said laughing. "I'm sorry Harry. He was your best mate. I know it's got to hurt."

"At least I don't have to deal with it from my family. Tim's parents won't be here tomorrow either, please don't ask him about them" Hadrian said. "Part of me wants to regret that Mum and Dad aren't alive to be here but after seeing how hurt Tim was when he tried to invite his parents to the wedding part of me was glad they weren't here to judge me."

"You don't know that they wouldn't have been fine with this. They loved you Harry there's no doubting that" Neville said.

"They loved me as a baby, sure, but then Tim's parents must have loved him as a baby too" Hadrian refuted. "Tim said things didn't start to go downhill with his father until he started skipping grades at school. In hindsight that was about the same time his magic was bound."

"His magic was bound?" Kingsley and Neville exclaimed in shock.

"Yeah they offer muggleborn's parents the choice of having their child's magic bound when they refuse to send them to a magical school" Hadrian explained. "Apparently about half the parents choose to do it."

"So Tim is a wizard?" Kingsley asked.

"Yeah, well he would be if he could unbind his magic. The healer we spoke to said that it can't be done because his magic would have built up and would burn out his magical channels as soon as he tried to use it and it would cause him immense pain every time he used it and he'd have no control."

"Would you like me to see if the researchers in Britain have a way to unbind bound magic safely?" Kingsley asked.

"Yeah! I can't promise Tim would want to go through with it even if you find a way but we'd like to know, to give him the choice" Hadrian said emotionally.

"I can understand that son. You've had too many people trying to make choices for you over your lifetime" Sir Geoffrey agreed before Kingsley could object.

Hadrian nodded. "We'll be in the lounge, the door immediately on your left at the bottom of the stairs. Come down when you're ready and I'll introduce you to Tim, his sister and Grandmother are here already and his friends arrive in the morning."

-o0o-

"Hey Tim" Hadrian said joining him and his family pushing the tea trolley laden with sandwiches and cakes as well as tea and coffee. "Anyone like a cuppa?"

"I would kill for a coffee" Sarah said cheerfully.

"No murder necessary, milk or sugar?" Hadrian said pouring her a cup.

"Is it real tea?" Penny asked.

"Of course, lapsang souchong, I sent it to Tim from Britain myself last time I was there" Hadrian replied grinning. "Milk sugar or lemon?"

"Lemon and one sugar" Penny said smiling.

Hadrian poured her a cup before making Tim a cup of coffee and pouring himself a cup of tea. He unloaded the eatables onto the coffee table for people to help themselves.

"Did Kingsley and Sir Geoffrey arrive all right?" Tim asked.

"Yes and they brought Neville with them" Hadrian said happily. "Kingsley told his wife he was needed on mandatory training."

Tim laughed. "That's great Hades" he said.

The British wizards joined the party at this stage and Hadrian cheerfully introduced them to everyone and set each of them up with a cup of tea.

"How was your flight?" Sarah asked politely.

"Thankfully uneventful" Kingsley replied remembering with horror the muggle plane he'd had to catch in the past. "And yours?"

"Quite good" Penny replied.

"You never told us where you've come from Penny" Tim commented.

"I was in Hong Kong" Penny replied. "You were lucky to get through to me when you did. I'd just returned to Hong Kong after trekking in Vietnam."

Tim chuckled. "Did you enjoy Vietnam?" he asked.

"It was an experience, not one I'd be in a hurry to repeat but I'm glad I went" Penny replied. "It was beautiful once you get out of the city and the people are very friendly."

"I'd like to travel one day" Hadrian said.

"I'd like to spend time in England. Tim made it sound so beautiful when he was there" Sarah replied.

"I loved the history of the place. I know there is history everywhere but at least in England I could read about it directly" Tim replied.

"I'm not much of a history buff, partly because it was taught so poorly at school but there are some lovely areas" Hadrian agreed. "I'd like to see more of America too. I've only really seen the DC area and a little of New York and a week on assignment in South America. That was fascinating though I didn't get time to do any sightseeing, I was working about sixteen hours a day the whole time I was there."

"So you're no good with computers, you're not interested in history and you don't write? What exactly do you and my brother have in common? Outside the bedroom of course" Sarah asked.

"We both enjoy documentaries and science fiction, jazz music and good food. We've done a fair bit of sightseeing and hiking over the last couple of years and we both enjoy travelling places that aren't too commercialised. And then we're both government agents so we can talk to each other about our jobs when we need a sounding board or outside opinion" Hadrian replied.

-o0o-

Neville was quiet during dinner, afraid of saying the wrong thing. Sarah tried to draw him out. "Why didn't your wife come with you?"

"She's six months pregnant and not feeling the best, the morning sickness has settled but she gets really travel sick so the trip would have been hard on her. Also we have a very active one year old and Hannah decided to stay home with him but she didn't want us to let down Harry so I came by myself. Especially seeing his best mates from school couldn't travel either" Neville replied.

"Sounds like you chose a bad time to get married" Sarah said teasingly.

"We needed to choose a date where neither of us would be called in to work" Hadrian replied. "Who knows how long it would take for that to happen again. Besides Hannah wants a big family so she'll probably be pregnant again whenever we did."

Neville chuckled turning red as he agreed.

"Is she trying to outdo Molly Weasley?" Kingsley asked.

"No" Neville protested. "But we can easily afford four or five."

"So could we but I don't know that I want to" Hadrian replied.

"You have enough titles for at least four" Kingsley said.

"Teddy is the Black heir and I need a boy to be Head of house Slytherin so it doesn't go to the Malfoys but I don't mind if you or your children inherit the others, you're going to have enough children" Hadrian replied.

"If you hold all the titles why can't one child inherit them all?" Sarah asked.

Hadrian panicked for a moment, how exactly was he supposed to explain that the rule was that for a person to activate more than one wizengamot seat they had to designate separate heirs for each of them otherwise another claimant to the seat could claim them for their own heirs. The ruling was originally designed to prevent the consolidation of power like that Harry currently held. However, with the loss of families in the last two wizarding wars and the declining number of wizard births with few families able to produce more than one son, the ruling was now causing undue stress in more than one wizarding house. Unfortunately, there was no correlation for this law in the muggle world so it didn't make sense to most of the other guests at the table.

"It's a new and little known ruling of the House of Lords, trying to maintain the number of people eligible for seats in the House" Sir Geoffrey lied calmly. "After so many of the families have married each other for generations and the decrease in family sizes they're concerned about the future."

Kingsley then skilfully changed the subject asking Sarah about her schooling, which he'd overheard her mentioning to her brother earlier.

"The house is lovely, I would have expected it to feel more musty having been shut up empty for so long" Penny said.

"The company that maintains it does an exemplary job" Hadrian agreed.

"We bought new mattresses for all the beds so you don't need to be worried about sleeping in a rats' nest or pile of dust" Tim reassured everyone.

"Are you going to renovate?" Sir Geoffrey asked.

"I don't think we will use the house often enough to make it worthwhile. We wired the rooms we're using for electricity and thankfully the previous tenants invested heavily in that newfangled idea of indoor plumbing" Hadrian replied. "And of course we'd have to set up Internet access before I'm likely to convince Tim to visit again."

Tim laughed lightly while Sarah nearly fell off the chair at the idea of her brother being separated from his beloved computers.

"Neville chuckled at the idea of indoor plumbing being a new idea but supposed without the water conjuration and waste banishing rune arrays it might have taken muggles a lot longer to work out how to have water in their bathrooms without carrying it in in a bucket from the river.

"So the old fashioned gas lamps in the ballroom are real?" Sarah asked.

"Yes, there is kerosine in them if you'd like me to have them lit" Hadrian replied. "I'd wait until morning to explore the rest of the house though we didn't manage to check and fill all the lamps."

Hadrian guests retired for the night early, the British were experiencing something similar to jet lag from the time difference. Hadrian attempted to join them to give Tim more time alone with his family but Penny and Sarah objected vehemently. They wanted the opportunity to get to know Tim's soon-to-be-husband.

"So what do you do for a living?" Sarah asked.

"I work for the FBI, though I'm on leave until Teddy's settled in with us and we've found a good day care. I enjoyed my job though I must admit there's no real need for me to earn a living. I earn more in interest and investment income than I normally spend each year. This year has been a bit different of course with the wedding and the new house. I'm not sponging off Tim if that's what you're worried about."

"No though it would probably have occurred to the Admiral" Sarah admitted.

"Thankfully I've never had the pleasure" Hadrian lied knowing that the admiral no longer had the memories of their meeting.

"It must be difficult to adjust to being a full-time parent" Penny sympathised. "Especially with Tim still working such long hours."

"It's a little lonely at times especially in a new neighbourhood but we're starting to make friends, Teddy more than me admittedly, the soccer mums don't know quite what to make of me."

Penny laughed. "I think you'd find their conversation a little limited too" she said.

"Please don't take offence Hadrian, but they probably think that you're the babysitter, you look too young to be his Dad."

Hadrian laughed and sighed, "yeah, and if the last few tears is anything to go by it's only going to get worse."

"What do you mean?" Penny asked.

"Tim says I actually looked older when we met than I do now, and when I look at the photo's we took back then he's right, we think it was because of the stress of my life back in England" Hadrian replied.

"Good to know" Sarah said nodding, "I would've been worried if you looked much younger."

"Hey!" Tim exclaimed, "Have some faith in me!"

-o0o-

"Wow" Jimmie said as the beautiful early 18th century house sitting in immaculately landscaped gardens came into view. "I know Tim said it was a huge old house but somehow I wasn't expecting this."

"It is very well maintained for a property that nobody lives in. Young Hadrian definitely doesn't give the impression of coming from old money like this" Ducky replied thinking of the young man he'd met cheerfully trying to set the kitchen table, while cooking and caring for a demanding young child.

"No he doesn't" Gibbs agreed frowning. "But their new house in Chevy Chase isn't that much smaller than this."

"They purchased and renovated that house though. Timothy and Hadrian were talking about colour schemes and bathroom fittings the last time I went to check on his shoulder before he returned to work" Ducky said surprised.

"I'm not sure how much renovation it required. It is immaculate now. It isn't as formal as this looks to be" Gibbs replied.

"Tim made it sound like they got a real bargain because it was almost ready to be pulled down" Jimmie said.

"In that case Hadrian has a real gift for renovating and building and landscaping crews in his pocket" Gibbs said.

"I didn't realise you've been to their new house?" Ducky questioned.

"I've driven past" Gibbs admitted.

"Checking up on your boy?" Ducky said nodding wisely. Tim might think Abby and Tony were the favourites but Gibbs was very protective of his youngest agent.

"Sir Geoffrey" Jimmie said impressed.

"Of course it doesn't mean anything here in America" sir Geoffrey said smiling.

"Here you would have got the military cross instead" Gibbs put in.

"Yes well I was just lucky to be in a position to make a difference" Sir Geoffrey said dismissively. "It does help me and my agency be taken a little more seriously, otherwise I don't know that I'd bother with it."

"It's actually Sir Hadrian as well isn't it?" Gibbs asked Hadrian. "Sir Hadrian Potter."

Hadrian shrugged. "If I wanted to use that title" he admitted. "It brings up memories I'd rather forget."

"It does to us all lad. But time will take the sting out of those memories and you may regret abandoning the title" Sir Geoffrey said.

"You mean my descendants might regret it if I die without changing my mind. So long as I remain a dual citizen I can start using the title whenever I want" Hadrian argued.

"It will become less believable" Sir Geoffrey warned. "An eighteen-year-old knighted by the queen wasn't believable anyway" Hadrian argued.

"Isn't today your wedding day. You shouldn't be together it's bad luck!" Jimmie exclaimed suddenly.

"It's bad luck for a groom to see the bride before the wedding, are you calling me a bride Jimmie?" Tim asked amused.

Gibbs and Hadrian laughed.

"You know what I mean it's traditional" Jimmie protested blushing.

"What did you expect us to do? Play some sort of reverse hide and seek all day where we take turns hiding in our rooms to avoid each other?" Hadrian asked.

"Normally one partner would get ready somewhere else. It is bad luck to see each other before the wedding" Ducky said.

"A tradition that began when the groom didn't get to see the bride he'd bought at all before the ceremony in case he didn't think she was pretty enough and tried to renegotiate the bride price" Hadrian said dryly. "I refuse to be treated like a bride or a parcel of goods for sale. Tim and I will get ready in separate rooms and I'll take the back stairs so we don't see each other again til we meet for the wedding but that's as much credence as I'm willing to give that tradition."

"Without a bride involved you can have the wedding the way you want" Gibbs said nodding.

"Huh?" Jimmie asked.

"You boys wouldn't have experienced this but generally weddings are organised by the bride and their family. It is the groom's job to agree with their bride, support her in arguments with her mother and do what they're told without complaint and hope the results won't be too dreadful" Gibbs said cynically.

"Sounds cynical Boss" Tim commented.

"Sounds about what happened with Ginny and Molly" Hadrian commented.

"Yeah but they tried to blackmail you I to marrying Ginny after you broke off the engagement. They're not exactly normal" Tim retorted. "Boss at least got married of his own free will, three times. He should have at least some positive experiences of planning a wedding."

"Don't count on it my boy, I've met his ex-wives" Ducky said dryly.

A/N: For those curious about the house wiki/Joseph_Stone_House

A/N2: Thank you to Kourtney Uzu Yato, serenityselena, julschristine975, buterflypuss, PercyJacksonROCKS4ever, lilly-flower15, mayawene, Jake Crepeau, Village-Mystic, Locket1, Kris (Guest), DS2010, Rori Potter, DDM520, xDarklightx, Gracie15Trowa, Guest, LadyDrak75, Firehedgehog, acherongoddess, Maben00, .9, Silvermane1, Arfa, Gottahavemyncis, Merlenyn, zivadavid03, Castiel-.-Helvisek, Ash of Mine, crdavidson, veyronking995, ququaq, Just Sandy, putputters, tbox, BenLoVesLV, jturfitt, batman77, junkyforfanfic, mitsuki67, MFProductions, Aoi436, CodenameConundrum22, lisagrace, Ladynightwing58, Lilith1710, diamondstarlight713, LadyDuet, Limetka.111, amgcat, Yaoifan-gurl-forever, LiquidCrystal, Beatrice112, DeathBringer6669 and Slashpet for your support.


	35. Chapter 35

Chapter 35

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or NCIS or any of their characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do NOT give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

Tim and Hadrian showed everyone where the wedding was going to be, then left them to their own devises while they went to get dressed.

"Are you sure there's nothing unexplainable for them to find?" Tim asked knowing his family or friends would take the opportunity to snoop.

"I moved all the artefacts to the attic at home, and the elves are too quick to be caught" Hadrian reassured him.

"Besides the wards let them all in, they don't mean to harm you or me."

"Thank goodness for that. Can you imagine what Gibbs would have thought if Ducky or Jimmie suddenly couldn't come to the wedding?" Tim asked. "Or either Penny or Sarah?"

"You drove Penny and Sarah in through the wards yourself, and they're your family. The wards wouldn't have triggered even if one of them was feeling suspicious of me and planning to snoop for evidence" Hadrian said.

"That could be a problem" Tim replied.

"I don't think so. I didn't read any ill intent behind either of them though they're both very curious about us" Hadrian said.

"No but the Admiral is family too" Tim replied.

"Even if the obliviations didn't work, and there's no reason to think it didn't, we hadn't got around to telling him where the wedding would be" Hadrian said.

"What if Penny or Sarah told him, or more likely, told Mom?" Tim asked. "She was upset that we hadn't invited them."

"The wedding starts in less than two hours, and we're not expecting anyone else other than the celebrant. I could set the alerts so I'd know if anyone tried to enter and then shut the wards once he arrives" Hadrian offered.

"Please. It would ease my mind" Tim replied hugging him.

Hadrian kissed Tim lightly. "I'll meet you outside the conservatory."

Hadrian made a quick trip down the back stairs to the ward stone and set the alerts to the highest level. He would now know if anyone approached the wards before they got through them. He cast an extra strength locking charm that should resist lock-picking on the door behind him and went to get ready for the wedding.

He received the notification that someone had crossed the wards while he was in the shower and wrapped a towel around himself before calling an elf to check who had arrived.

The elf was glamoured to look like a housemaid and Hadrian didn't recognise them. "Who has just arrived?" he asked, uncharacteristically not bothering to ask who they were.

"Mr Dorkins the non-magical not a druid" the elf replied.

Hadrian laughed at the elves description of the marriage celebrant. "Can you seal the wards until after the ceremony. Everyone is here now. Nobody else is to be let in no matter who they are. Not even Tim's mum and dad. They will want to stop the wedding" Hadrian ordered. "Tell Tim that the celebrant is here and the wards are sealed."

"Nobodies in til after the weddings. Tells Master Tim now" the elf said nodding and popping away.

Relieved Hadrian climbed back into the shower and finished getting ready.

In the other bathroom Tim had finished his shower and was brushing his teeth when the elf popped in and startled him. "Master Hadrian says tells you the non-magical not a druid persons is here and wards is closed. Nobody comes in now" the elf said dutifully.

"Thank you" Tim said, glad he hadn't had a razor in his hand when he jumped like that. "Is everyone getting ready for the wedding?" he asked.

"Everyone be in their rooms except for Mr Gibbses, he be in the portrait hall" the elf reported. "Oh God, we did spell the portraits not to move or speak didn't we?"

"Yes Sirs, the portraits be spelled to looks like they nots move for non-magical people" the elf reassured him.

"I suppose there's nothing I can do about it now" Tim said resigned. "Thanks that will be all."

-o0o-

The group gathered in the hall and once ten minutes before the ceremony was to start the maid came and let them into the conservatory. The celebrant was waiting at the front and greeted them. "Good afternoon. Welcome to Tim and Hadrian's wedding, I'm your celebrant today. Before Hadrian and Tim join us can I ask you to please turn your cell phones and any other electronic devices onto silent so we won't be interrupted during the ceremony."

The two individual sets of law enforcement looked at each other curiously, Kingsley, Sir Geoffrey and Neville were slightly apprehensive meeting Tim's team knowing at a glance that Gibbs would be the one to notice if they acted oddly. Sir Geoffrey lived and worked almost entirely in the muggle world keeping minimal use of magic at home since neither his wife nor his step daughter were witches, so he had little concern for himself. Kingsley unlike much of the British wizarding population also spent a great deal of time in the muggle world investigating fugitives and unlike Mr Weasley had quickly learned the benefits of fitting into the environment, so he wasn't really worried too much about himself either. What both of them were worried about was Neville, they'd tried over the last few weeks to give him a crash course in muggle behaviour but the boy was forgetful at times and he had been a very sheltered pure blood, it wasn't even learning new muggle behaviours that was the problem, it was knowing which beliefs and customs didn't exist in the muggle world and that took a lot more time than they'd had to train him. Gibbs on the other hand had no apprehensions about meeting Hadrian's British workmates. He and Fornell had investigated Hadrian's past as much as they could and all three men's names had come up. He was a little suspicious that two of the three of Hadrian's friends were so high up in the government. These were not colleagues, it was on the lines of Tim not only inviting the Director but also SecNav to his wedding, and the boy who looked about the same age that Hadrian appeared to be was also knighted by the queen for services to the crown at the same time Hadrian was and looked nothing like any law enforcement officer he'd ever met, he'd have pegged the man as more like a cross between a shy gardener more at home with his plants and a nervous academic. Gibbs was also interested in Tim's family, he'd been shocked not to be introduced to Tim's parents, instead a grandmother and much younger sister seemed to be the only representatives of the family. He knew Tim's parents were living, his father was occasionally mentioned in the Navy dispatches of fleet movements, a former rising star of the Navy who rumour had it had at one time been on track to lead the Navy one day but whose career had for no apparent reason stalled at Admiral. He wondered why the Admiral wasn't here.

Sarah was looking mistrustfully at Tim's team, she'd been upstairs when they arrived and hadn't had a chance to talk to them. Luckily that Tommy character wasn't there because she wanted to gouge the SFA's eyes out after some of the pranks Tim had told her about and would have been conflicted between following through on the desire and not causing a scene at Tim's wedding. He hadn't complained to her in the last couple of years though and she wondered whether that was because the relationship with the team had improved or if Tim had just not needed to confide in her anymore now he had Hadrian's support at home. She knew that with a background in law enforcement in common, Hadrian would be able to offer better advice in this situation than she was but she still regretted not being as close to her brother as she had been. That regret was tinged with guilt though as she had to admit the problem was more her fault than her brother's or Hadrian's.

Ducky was looking at Penny Langston. Their dating had fizzled out as Penny found him to be too conservative, but he would've been unwilling to commit to a long-distance relationship anyway with the amount she travelled and how unreliable she was at being in a specific city when she said she would be. She was a fascinating woman though and looking at her now he felt a small pang of regret.

Penny was also looking admiringly at Ducky. She'd thought the Medical examiner was too staid and conservative but his wholehearted support of Tim and Hadrian almost made her reconsider.

Neville was poking around in delight at the plants in the greenhouse. They were all muggle plants and he hadn't seen any of them before but he could see they were all in peak condition. He was hoping that Hadrian would give him some cuttings for his own greenhouse.

Jimmie was watching the young man, Hadrian's friend, poking the plants in a curious manner. He seemed shy and anxious like Jimmie often felt. It seemed that the plants were calming him down though. He didn't seem like an agent to Jimmie but then Jimmie knew if he was honest most people would be surprised to hear he worked in law enforcement. Maybe the two of them had a lot in common.

Teddy ran into the room accompanied by Tollie who was glamoured to look like a human for the day. They moved towards the front and took their seats. Tollie took a couple of small toy trains out of her pocket to amuse the child with.

-o0o-

Two surprisingly relaxed young men met in the hallway outside the conservatory, Tim arrived first but had to wait less than a minute for Hades to join him.

"Shall we" Hadrian asked taking his hand.

Tim grinned and nodded and they each pushed open one of the doors having agreed not to open the door for each other. The door knobs must have rattled because everyone turned to watch them enter and walk together down the aisle to the celebrant.

"Welcome everyone and on Tim and Hadrian's behalf I would like to thank you all for coming. As witnesses to this wedding I ask you to support Tim and Hadrian on their journey."

"Marriage is not just a wedding ceremony, it is a lifelong commitment for each of them to love and support the other, to form a family together, and to face the rest of their lives as a united team against all that comes their way. As I got to know Tim and Hadrian over the last few weeks I could see that they understand this. The level of commitment that they have towards each other and their family is beautiful to see, and I am honoured to be standing here to officiate their commitment on the first day of their marriage journey together."

Hadrian took both of Tim's hands in his, took a deep breath and looked into Tim's eyes as he spoke with conviction.

"I promise to love you to the depth, breath, and height my soul can reach for the rest of my life. I promise to rejoice in our love in body and in soul every day. I promise to listen to you, to respect your opinions and beliefs and take them into consideration. I promise to confide in you, to share my secrets, my thoughts my beliefs and my experiences. I promise to believe in you always and believe in our love. I promise to live my life with you, to share with you to work alongside you and build a future with you. I promise to rest with you, and to seek balance between work and play. I promise to encourage you to become all that you can be

I promise to exalt in your successes as if they were my own. I promise to share your grief and comfort you in times of need, to always care for you and to meet all your needs to the best of my ability. I promise to be your husband, your partner and your best friend for the rest of our lives."

Tim squeezed his hands and smiled brightly. "I promise to love you to the depth, breath, and height my soul can reach for the rest of my life. I promise to rejoice in our love in body and in soul every day. I promise to listen to you, to respect your opinions and beliefs and take them into consideration. I promise to confide in you, to share my secrets, my thoughts my beliefs and my experiences. I promise to believe in you always and believe in our love. I promise to live my life with you, to share with you to work alongside you and build a future with you. I promise to rest with you, and to seek balance between work and play. I promise to encourage you to become all that you can be

I promise to exalt in your successes as if they were my own. I promise to share your grief and comfort you in times of need, to always care for you and to meet all your needs to the best of my ability. I promise to be your husband, your partner and your best friend for the rest of our lives."

There was the smallest of flashes of warmth where their hands were joined but nobody noticed.

Even the most sceptical of spectators couldn't deny that both men clearly meant every word and were jubilantly happy to be making these vows to each other in front of the few people they trusted to be there.

Penny had been thinking that it was a shame Tim's parents weren't there but she realised that it was only herself and Sarah that missed them. Tim had long made his peace with his father's inability to accept him for the man he was. Hadrian accepted her grandson wholeheartedly and with Teddy he now had the family he'd always longed for.

"Do you have the rings?"

Hadrian and Tim both nodded, Hadrian reaching into his pocket to pull out Tim's ring.

"Timothy McGee, I give you this ring as a symbol of my love. As it encircles your finger, may it remind you always that you are surrounded by my enduring love" Hadrian slipped the ring onto Tim's finger.

"I will wear it gladly. Whenever I look at it, I will remember this joyous day and the vows we've made" Tim replied.

He pulled out Hadrian's ring and Hadrian put out his hand waiting for it to be returned to him.

"Hadrian James Potter Black, I give you this ring as a symbol of my love. As it encircles your finger, may it remind you always that you are surrounded by my enduring love" he said sliding the ring into place.

"I will wear it gladly. Whenever I look at it, I will remember this joyous day and the vows we've made" Hadrian replied. The Black, Slytherin and Peveral family rings remained hidden on his right hand but the Gryffindor rind now sat boldly on his left ring finger for all to see for the first time.

"I pronounce you married, you may seal your union with a kiss"

Hadrian and Tim exchanged a quick grin and moved forward each bringing a hand up to cup the other's check as they moved into a slow gentle kiss and the audience applauded.

Sarah was the first to congratulate the happy couple. She hugged her brother fiercely before hugging Hadrian more politely. She stepped back and looked at him oddly and for a moment Hadrian was worried that she had felt the small baby bump that was hidden by his glamours. Instead she said "The ceremony was lovely and this garden room is terrific. It would be a great place to study or for you to write Tim."

"Thanks, I'm thinking of trying to talk Tim into letting me build one at home. It will take years to get the plants to look like this though" Hadrian replied.

"Now you're stuck with him for life we should catch up one day and I can tell you all the embarrassing stories from our childhood."

"No!" Tim protested but Hadrian just laughed. "I'll look forward to it."

Penny was next the others having stepped back to let the two women go first. "I'm glad you're happy!" She said to Tim.

"Thanks Penny" Tim smiled at his grandmother who he knew was normally even more cynical about marriage than Gibbs.

"Welcome to the family Hadrian" she said air kissing the younger groom.

"Thank you Penny" Hadrian said happily.

Tollie let Teddy go and the little boy barrelled into his godfather and 'Uncle Tim.' Tim laughed and lifted him up. "Hello rascal. You were good during the ceremony" he said.

"Ice cream?" Teddy asked.

"After dinner" Tim replied laughing.

"Hawwy ice cream?" Teddy asked his godfather.

Hadrian turned to Tim and quirked an eyebrow questioningly.

"I told him after dinner" Tim said.

"Then you already have your answer Teddy, ice cream after dinner" Hadrian said firmly. Tim shifted the little boy to one hip and turned to accept the next lot of congratulations.

"You're good with him" Gibbs said.

"It's a steep learning curve but we're getting there. He's a great kid" Tim replied. "It probably helps that he's new to living with Hades as well so the three of us have been able to establish our own routine."

"You've become a family" Gibbs said nodding.

"Congrats Harry" Neville said hugging his friend. "

"Thanks Nev" Hadrian said slapping his old friend on the back. "Who would have thought we'd be India married men both with a second child on the way seven years ago?"

"Not me! I didn't think either of us was gonna survive the year. We've done pretty well for ourselves though not in the ways we'd hoped at the time" Neville replied.

He loved his wife but the marriage had been the result of a drunken night partying after hearing Harry and Ginny had got back together and it had taken the fiasco with Harry's engagement to finally put to rest the dregs of Neville's crush on Ginny Weasley and truly appreciate the wife he had. Their son Franklin was a direct result of that appreciation. Now looking at the sheer joy on Harry and his husband's faces he regretted the stiff formal wedding ceremony they had let his mother in law and grandmother had organised for them.

"This room is lovely, but it must take constant work to keep it all thriving like this" Ducky said.

"Your ancestors must have been incredibly generous to inspire the loyalty to maintain and improve the gardens while the house was empty for so long" Gibbs said suspiciously.

Hadrian laughed. "The gardener thinks of this place as his own. He was quite put out when we added all the lights and moved some of the potted plants to make room for the tables" he replied.

"He's hoping that we leave at the end of the week and don't come back" Tim added.

"Congratulations Hadrian, well done" Sir Geoffrey said clapping Hadrian on the back. "Look after him Mr McGee, he's more important to this world than you know, and he deserves to be happy more than anyone else on the planet."

Hadrian flushed scarlet and tried to protest. "I intend to Sir" Tim replied interrupting him.

"Congratulations Hadrian, Tim" Kingsley said with a smile.

"Thanks Kingsley" Hadrian replied smiling at his former boss.

Tollie left Teddy with them for dinner. Hadrian and Tim would've liked to have her join them, unfortunately her speech couldn't pass for human let alone non-magical. She'd done well not to attract anyone's attention during the ceremony.

They'd chosen to hire a human waitress to look after the nonmagical guests and to serve the meal for the same reason though the elves had of course prepared it all and done the cleaning while the guests were out of their rooms. So far the only suspicion aroused was that the maids were too enthusiastic about their work. Penny, Ducky and Gibbs were too well travelled not to realise that even in the very best $1,000 dollar per night hotels the maid service would be lucky if they checked and tidied the room twice a day.

Dinner was a cheerful affair. In spite of the fact Hadrian and Tim had chosen a fairly plain menu the house elves had pulled out all the stops with extra canapés and side dishes. The food was exquisite, the wines good quality and plentiful. And non wine drinkers like Gibbs were kept supplied with the beverage of their choice. Bourbon for Gibbs, chocolate milk for Teddy and milky cocktails for Sarah. In fact Tim suspected the elves were having more fun experimenting with the cocktails than Sarah was drinking them. Hadrian agreed but fervently hoped they weren't tasting them given their intolerance for alcohol.

Hadrian looked around the table and smiled. Ducky and Penny were happily involved in conversation and the attraction they'd felt the first time they met was definitely still there. Tim watched amused as Ducky flirted with his grandmother much for content with the situation than he'd been the first time around, which he had to admit had something to do with Tony not being there to tease him about it, but also something to do with the attitude of all happily in love couples who wished equal happiness for all their friends and family.

Sitting Neville between Sir Geoffrey and Neville turned out to be a great idea as the spymaster cheerfully facilitated the conversation between the two shy young men until they found things in common.

Gibbs and Kingsley also hit it off better than Tim had expected, they were both passionate about finding justice for their victims and Kingsley having had extensive experience with the hassles of working with a less than reasonable management situation helped even though he was the equivalent of a director now.

That left Sarah as 'odd man out' among their guests which suited Tim and Hadrian fine as they were happy to spend time catching up on what was going on in her life so long as she didn't try to discuss the issues between Tim and his parents. Luckily she realised this and instead was enthusiastically discussing the upcoming semester's exchange she was going to spend in London, though she was surprised at how few of the tourist attractions Hadrian had been to for someone that had lived in the country.

"I'd guess it was like any family that didn't move around. My Uncle and Aunt had favourite places for holidays and day trips so they tended to go to the same place over and over. They weren't the type to like new experiences and they tended to leave me behind with a neighbour when they could" Hadrian explained. "And I travelled around the country for work so I've seen a fair few of the cities but they all seemed much the same to me in the limited time I was there. I was more interested in the investigations at the time and because I was away so much I liked to stay near home on my days off."

"I guess I haven't seen as much of the areas more than an hour outside DC as I intended when I moved here" Sarah agreed.

Teddy finished his dinner and curled up on Hadrian's lap sleepily. Hadrian ran his hand gently up and down the little boys back until her fell asleep. As soon as he was asleep Tollie came in and carried him out to put to bed.

Tim noticed that Sarah started to appear tipsy but though she kept drinking didn't get any worse. In fact, she seemed to sober up a bit by the end of the night and he realised that the elves were giving her drinks that only tasted like they had alcohol in them.

"Where are you going for your honeymoon?" Sarah asked.

"Nowhere at the moment. We didn't want to leave Teddy while he's still becoming accustomed to living with us" Tim replied.

"But you'll have a new baby in a few months and it could be months before you can get away" Sarah protested. "And his he seems to love the nanny. Why do you have a nanny anyway?"

"Teddy just lost his grandmother and had his whole world turned upside down. Tollie used to work for her because she wasn't well enough to look after a toddler on her own. She's been a godsend helping us look after him without giving up our jobs. Teddy's still having difficulty understanding American accents, and he got upset when we moved into the house and again when we came here thinking we were going to leave him" Hadrian said.

"Hades is right, even if we took Teddy with us, which we would be happy to do, he'd be traumatised by another change in location. He needs some stability in his life. And like you said we'll have a new baby soon and we'd like to get Teddy settled with us before then so he can accept the baby without feeling insecure about his place in our lives" Tim said. "And I'll want leave when we get the baby so it'd be a bit greedy to take time off for an extravagant honeymoon as well."

"Would you give up the baby if Teddy is still insecure about living with you?" Jimmie asked.

"No we're committed to the baby. We'd made the arrangements before Andi died" Tim replied. "I think in the long run it will be a good thing for Teddy to have a little brother or sister close to his age to play with."

Sarah nodded her understanding. The main reason she and Tim weren't closer was the difference in age, he looked after her as a toddler but by the time she started school Tim was already away at college. She would have liked a sibling that was still at home with her.

Jetlag started to catch up with the international travellers and they made their goodnights, Tim and Hadrian decided to join them after thanking everyone again for coming. They peeped in on Teddy who was sleeping soundly and made their way to bed.

A/N: Thank you to Locket1, Almonda, lilly-flower15, Kourtney Uzu Yato, charm13insomnia, julschristine975, .9, Firehedgehog, xDarklightx, Jake Crepeau, buterflypuss, Winged Dire Wolf7, Rori Potter, DevilishAngel666, Gottahavemyncis, Village-Mystic, Maben00, acherongoddess, DS2010, Gracie15Trowa, Dedicated4reading, Silvermane1, PercyJacksonROCKS4ever, serenityselena, dalejrchick2006, Merlenyn, 0-bailey-0, Egyptian Neko Thief, heavenrain, NaruNaruko-chan, alixelle, Alex B. Goode, Warror, BonzaiNekoNeko, BabyBlueDragon, kacsa002, Skulls R' Us, Annie9987, , idadri, Lord Weiss, pernrider and CrazyBeth for your support.


	36. Chapter 36

Chapter 36

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or NCIS or any of their characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do NOT give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

"That went well" Hadrian said happily as they walked towards their room.

"Yes, it was just about perfect" Tim said smiling. To him the only thing that could possibly have improved the day was having his Mom and Dad present and approving of his relationship with Hades and his life choices. Since that was never going to be in the realm of possibility he'd put all thoughts of his parents out of his head and the day was as wonderful as it could be. Hadrian too had a secret pang that his parents couldn't be there, and the people he had thought of as his adopted family Ron, Hermione and the Weasleys weren't there supporting him either but he'd come to terms with that and didn't let it ruin his special day.

"Do you think anyone's suspicious yet?" Hadrian asked.

Tim frowned thoughtfully. "No one mentioned anything and Ducky will be doing his best to squash any suspicions that arise in his hearing" he said. "I'd guess someone will try to bring it up with us tomorrow if they have any suspicions."

"There's no point worrying about it now then" Hadrian pointed out.

"What will you do if they do find out about magic, will you obliviate them? Because I really want all these people to remember our wedding."

"They'll remember the wedding" Hadrian reassured him. "If Gibbs finds out I'll get Kingsley and Sir Geoffrey to make him understand the importance of keeping the secret, Jimmie would go straight to you or Ducky and we could probably just obliviate the ten minutes when he found out or convince him it was an elaborate prank. Your sister I could just about convince of the prank idea too depending on what she sees and it's entirely possible that Penny already knows, most of her travels that you've told me about in recent years have been to places where there is a magical community.

"How will we tell if Penny knows? Could Sarah be a witch and have her magic bound as well? Is there a way to tell?" Tim asked as they arrived in their room.

"There is but not without her knowing" Hadrian replied. "It is possible though, there were muggleborn families at Hogwarts who all had magic, and there were families like my mum's whose sister didn't. Would your parents have bound Sarah's magic though? They seem quite content that she never considered a career in the Navy."

"I don't know. You're right they never pushed her into the Navy. Dad doesn't like females serving aboard his ships though there's nothing he can do to stop it. I think he was trying to train her to become a Navy officer's wife though" Tim replied. "They may have felt they had to do it since they'd already bound mine. Either out of a sense of fairness or maybe they worried that if I realised what they'd done I could get it unbound or hate them for it."

Hadrian frowned, "If your mum is a perfect Naval officer's wife, Sarah really isn't much like her."

"No she's far too assertive and opinionated" Tim agreed grinning, "not to mention she hates the Navy."

"The easiest way to tell if she has magic would be to get her alone and take her to the portrait gallery. The portraits are spelled not to move in the presence of a muggle but if they speak to you, they'd speak to Sarah as well if she was a witch" Hadrian suggested. "It would be better to wait until your team leave in case she freaks out about it. If she's not a witch then she won't notice anything odd."

Yeah, I'll do that" Tim agreed moving over to kiss his new husband.

All thoughts of Sarah fled their minds as Hadrian returned the kiss with interest and they moved towards the bed stripping each other's clothes off. They made love wildly driving each other quickly to ecstasy and then a second time slowly and sweetly before falling asleep entwined around each other, the locking charms specifically designed to keep anyone except Teddy out of their room.

-o0o-

The guests were surprised to see Tim and Hadrian up early next morning.

"Teddy jumped on the bed at first light and woke us" Hadrian said cheerfully, though he looked a little tired.

"We could look after him today if you want some time alone" Jimmie offered.

"Thanks for the offer but he's already unsettled being in a strange place with so many other people he hasn't met" Tim replied. "I don't want him to feel abandoned."

"Besides we promised to take him out" Hadrian added.

"What are you going to do today?" Neville asked.

"We thought we'd take advantage of the winter sunshine. There's a hill on the eastern side if the property that's perfect for a beginner to learn to sled" Hadrian replied. "There's a couple of two person sleds in the outbuildings and we've had enough snow. Teddy's been cooped up for the last two days while we were busy, he deserves a treat."

"Play outside in the snow" Teddy agreed.

"Yes, after breakfast when we've got our snow gear on" Tim agreed. "You need a good breakfast to help keep you warm in the snow."

"You're all welcome to join us, or the car will be available to take you anywhere you'd like if you want to do some sightseeing" Hadrian offered.

He was surprised that Gibbs, Jimmie, and Neville decided to join them once they were sure the newlyweds wouldn't rather be alone with their son. Ducky and Penny decided to sightsee, Kingsley and Sir Geoffrey had set up meetings with their American counterparts and Sarah hasn't yet emerged from her bedroom.

They had a great morning out sledding and trooped into a late lunch as the clouds moved over and it started to sleet.

-o0o-

Hadrian was a little concerned when Kingsley asked to speak with him in private, even more so when he asked him to place a silencing charm around them.

"You didn't bond during the ceremony" Kingsley said concerned. "Do you plan to?"

"We did a couple of weeks ago" Hadrian replied. "We found a bonding ritual that didn't require a third person."

"And it worked with Tim's magic bound?" Kingsley asked.

"Yeah it wasn't a problem" Hadrian said, blushing. "It was a sex ritual. His magic is only bound from active use. It's still present in his blood and semen."

"So he could impregnate you?" Kingsley asked relieved. "Is that what you really meant when you said you'd organised to have a baby in the spring by surrogate."

"Yeah it came as quite a surprise because neither Tim or I knew he wasn't a muggle" Hadrian said laughing.

"Is that why you decided to get married?" Kingsley asked concerned again. The wizarding world didn't respond well to fatherless children but in Harry's case he could easily tell people that the child's mother had died, nobody in Britain would assume that he'd carried the child. After all he'd been through Harry deserved to marry for real love not affection and duty.

"I love him, I wouldn't marry someone I wasn't in love with but we weren't in any hurry to make a formal commitment, it may have taken a couple of years to get around to the wedding if I wasn't already pregnant. Especially since gay marriage isn't really accepted in the nonmagical world though homosexual relationships are. If it's a boy the baby will be the next heir of Slytherin, keeping the title away from the Malfoys. We didn't want any possibility of them contesting that" Hadrian replied.

"I certainly support that" Kingsley said. "You and the baby are well?"

"Yes. This curse while not exactly common isn't unknown in America and I have a healer that has experience with male pregnancies" Hadrian replied. "Clancy's put me on leave from regular duties. It was that or desk duty and I don't need the money enough to spend my days filling in forms. He'll still call if they get a case involving a British fugitive."

"Even then you should limit your involvement to advising from the sidelines" Kingsley ordered.

"Yes Sir" Hadrian replied cheekily.

"I'm serious Harry. Producing an heir to keep the Earldom of Slytherin and the Black fortune out of the Malfoy's hands will do more to prevent another uprising than catching a few more death eaters already on the run" Kingsley said bluntly.

"All the care in the world won't necessarily make the baby a boy" Hadrian responded.

"I know that. But having one child means that you can produce another which will prevent the Malfoys from contesting your ability to be head of house" Kingsley stated. "Even if you never have a boy it will be seventy years or so before you could be declared incapable of producing a male heir."

Hadrian groaned. He could see that if the baby was a girl he would have to deal with quite a lot of pressure from both Kingsley, Robbards and Sir Geoffrey to keep producing children until he did have a boy.

-o0o-

The guests started to leave soon after lunch, and Tim and Hadrian made the rounds of saying goodbye to each of them.

"Thanks for inviting me Harry. It's good to know that you're happy after all the things you've been through what with the war and then being betrayed by the Weasleys like that" Neville said hugging his friend.

"Thanks for coming Nev. It meant a lot" Hadrian replied.

"I know you're hesitant to spend time in England but we'd love to have the two of you, or three of you come and stay" Neville invited them

"When Teddy's feeling more secure and Hannah's well enough I'd like that" Hadrian replied smiling. "Or better yet, we could rent a place on the beach somewhere and both have a real holiday."

"It will probably be the four of us by then" Tim said.

"You're going to adopt? Are you going to do a blood adoption?" Neville asked.

"Blood adoption?" Tim asked.

"A way of altering a child's DNA to make it biologically more like you. There's still a difference to having a child of your own. I'll explain it later if you like. No Neville we're not going to adopt. There are spells here to help two men produce a child of their own."

"I don't think I want to know" Neville said paling slightly. "I'm happy for you but please don't tell me the details."

Hadrian laughed. "Okay Nev, you keep believing our baby's going to arrive by stork."

"Stork?" Neville asked totally confused.

"Oh. It's a muggle story people used to tell young children back in the days they didn't want to tell them about sex and pregnancy. A stork is a huge bird and it was said to deliver babies to couples who wanted one" Hadrian explained.

"You're saying that the muggles tell their children about sex?" Neville asked astonished.

"Just in very simple terms that the daddy puts the baby into the mummy's tummy and it grows there until it's big enough for them to go to the hospital and the hospital takes it out. Muggles don't have glamours so they can't hide pregnancies like we do. And they don't have elves or silencing charms so there is less separation between parents and children."

-o0o-

"Good luck with the baby" Sir Geoffrey said shaking Tim's and Hadrian's hands.

"Thank you Sir" Tim said, while Hadrian just rolled his eyes.

"It still might be a girl and I have no intentions of having half a dozen children just to get a boy" he reminded his boss.

"We're still researching distant relatives and the line of succession after Malfoy. It's not looking good" Sir Geoffrey said. "Those few that didn't support Voldemort are heavily involved in the pureblood movement in Europe."

"I understand Sir Geoffrey but as Kingsley said, even if this is a girl she will provide evidence of my ability to have children which should make them back off" Hadrian pointed out.

"Was he really telling us we need to have a boy to save him the trouble of assassinating an entire extended family?" Tim asked in horror.

"Yes and he means the entire families, wives and children as well" Hadrian said sighing. "I'm just glad you do have magic because the idea of him doing that because I didn't leave you and marry a wizard is horrifying."

"You were prepared to let him do that to be with me?" Tim asked not sure whether he felt awed by the depths of Hades' love for him or upset by it.

"It's only just starting to become an issue again. I'd hoped that having lost so much in the war and seeing what a monster Voldemort became, Draco would settle quietly into a non-political life" Hadrian said regretfully. "You should double check that he's acting on his own free will this time" he said to Sir Geoffrey.

-o0o-

"Thank you for inviting us Timothy. It was a lovely wedding" Ducky said warmly.

"Thanks for believing me and wanting to come" Tim replied smiling at his elder friend.

"It was a lot of fun. Your husband has some interesting friends" Jimmie said.

"If by interesting, you mean a little odd" Hadrian agreed laughing.

"So Ducky you and Penny seemed to be hitting it off" Tim teased his friend.

"She's a fascinating woman. A little flighty though but very good company" Ducky replied.

"By flighty you mean always flying off on some new adventure" Tim commented. "Half the time I see her it's just for lunch in one of the airport restaurants when she has a stopover in DC between adventures."

"But she goes out of her way to stop over in DC rather than Dallas or New York even when it would be cheaper or better connections" Hadrian reminded him.

Tim smiled.

"I'll see you all at work on Tuesday" he said warmly.

"Enjoy your extra day off" Jimmie said.

"We have to close up the house again" Tim replied.

"It seems a pity that a house like this sits empty" Gibbs commented.

"Especially when there's so many homeless people" Hadrian agreed. "But the entailment's quite strict. I can't sell it or rent it out or even give it away and the maintenance costs are deducted from the trust so I'm reluctant to let squatters just move in and risk them trashing the place. From the records it was used as a convalescent home for soldiers during the first world war. I looked at doing something along those lines but it needs a lot of modernisation to bring it up to meet public building regulations so it will take some time."

-o0o-

When Penny and Sarah were the only guests left, Hadrian offered to give them a tour of the house and tell them some of the history he'd learned from skimming through the journals of his ancestors.

"This is the portrait gallery. It's a family tradition to have a portrait painted just after your eldest child's and grandchild's first birthday" Hadrian said, adding sadly. "Unfortunately, my parents didn't get around to it before they died."

Of those listening, only Tim knew what a huge loss this was for his husband. Magical portraits were imbued with the subject's personality and memories. He'd been fifteen months old when his parents were killed and if they hadn't put it off because they were in hiding Hadrian would have had their portrait to get to know them.

The portraits were motionless and Tim mentally kicked himself as he realised this only meant that one of his relatives was nonmagical. He needed to have each of them pass back through the portrait hall without the other to be sure they both were.

"So what happens to the first portrait when the second one is painted?" Sarah asked.

"They're up in the attic" Hadrian said.

"What a waste" Penny commented.

"There's nearly twice as many as there are down here. They are entailed to the estate and cannot be sold. I expect they were put up in the subject's private rooms while they were living, or their parent's or spouses after their deaths and are put away only when nobody remembers them well" Hadrian said lightly. He could hardly tell her that the portraits enjoyed being up there together without the older versions of themselves, or that having talking portraits in the bedrooms and sitting rooms could be awfully off-putting like having strangers in the room all the time. Though in some cases the 'younger' portraits didn't interact with their environments, Hadrian had asked a portrait artist why that was and found that sometimes witches and wizards harvested the magic from a portrait and added it to their newer portrait when they had another one painted.

"Why did they get their portrait painted when their child turns one?" Penny asked.

"Because portraits aren't for the subject, they're to pass on the family history to the following generations" Hadrian replied. "And with infant mortality rates so high even among the upper classes until fairly recently a baby's first birthday was considered an important milestone."

"Will you get a portrait painted?" Sarah asked.

"Yes I want to keep the tradition going. I'm in the process of looking for a portrait artist I like" Hadrian replied.

"Whose work you like you mean?" Sarah asked.

"Yes. but I'm going to have to spend more than a dozen hours in the artist's company pretty much doing nothing while he paints so I need to at least tolerate the person as well" Hadrian replied.

In truth, there weren't many magical artists out there and they'd found the one they wanted but needed to wait until after the baby was born because a glamour would interfere with the magic of the portrait and Hadrian didn't want to appear visibly pregnant in his portrait.

-o0o-

"I don't want to ask Tim and upset him but I need to know what happened with my son? Last I heard things were improving between them" Penny asked bluntly when she got Hadrian alone.

"It's a long story" Hadrian said sighing.

"I have time to hear it" Penny said demandingly, leading Hadrian over to a pair of chairs.

"I don't know if thighs really did improve between them because I don't know what it was like before but their meeting wasn't instigated by Tim. He confided in me that he would have been quite resigned not to ever see his father and I believe that they sentiment was mutual. The admiral came to visit a few days after Tim got shot a couple of years ago, stayed about ten, fifteen minutes. Honestly, he only came because he was in the city for meetings and SecNav made a point of asking him about Tim, expecting him to have already seen him. He and Tim spoke civilly for the first time in years but that still didn't stop the admiral from disparaging Tim's career or trying to convince him to join the Navy. At that stage, Tim and I had been together for about six months and given their relationship Tim wasn't ready to tell his father about me but he did mention to his mother that he was dating someone he believed the admiral wouldn't approve of. His mother expressed concern and took the Admiral's side though she barely knew anything about the situation. When we became engaged, Tim took me to meet the Admiral and his wife. The Admiral, before we could tell him about our relationship, insulted me to my face and ordered Tim to cease our friendship because it would make people think he might be homosexual to be hanging around an openly gay man. Tim told him that there was nothing wrong with that and the admiral lost his temper and stormed out of the restaurant. Heather McGee told Tim off for deliberately upsetting his father before leaving as well and we haven't heard from either of them since."

"My son is concerned what being openly gay will do to Tim's career. 'Don't ask, don't tell' is taken very seriously in the Navy" Penny tried to justify her son's concerns.

"Tim is not in the Navy. He has no intention of ever joining the Navy and has told his father that he would not be joining the Navy during every single conversation he's had with his father since he was seventeen" Hadrian replied unimpressed. "NCIS is a civilian agency. Not to mention that the Navy is seriously considering repealing 'Don't ask, don't tell' a fact which the admiral is well aware of given how hard he is campaigning to keep it."

"You're going to adopt a child. Tim will soon be a father. Hopefully that will improve his insight into how his father feels" Penny commented.

"Tim is already a father and he has told me that if he ever tried to impose his career aspirations on any of his children without considering who they are and what they want to do with their lives I am to beat him over the head until he comes to his senses" Hadrian replied bluntly. "He has no plans to be the sort of father that makes his child feel that his love is conditional on the child doing exactly what his father wants him to do every second of the day."

Penny looked taken aback by the plain speaking and then saddened by what it revealed of the relationship between her son and grandson. She had thought that the tension between them was a result of Tim deciding not to join the Navy when he came of age but from Hadrian's words it had been present through most of Tim's childhood.

Hadrian sat quietly for a moment as she was lost in thought then moved over to look out the window to give her some space. He smiled as he saw Tim and Teddy playing ball out on the driveway where the snow had been cleared.

-o0o-

Tim spent some time with Sarah as she was packing.

"Come for dinner before you go to England" he invited.

"Yeah I will" Sarah said smiling.

"I mean it Sar, you're always welcome. I feel like I hardly ever see you anymore" Tim said earnestly.

"I'm sorry Tim" Sarah said. "I just got caught up trying to finish up my thesis and everything. And every time we did plan something either you or Hadrian was away on a case."

"I know it can all get a bit overwhelming" Tim said agreeably.

"Did you tell Mom and Dad about the wedding?" Sarah asked.

"We tried" Tim said sighing. "Dad went off as soon as I introduced him to Hades and Mom scolded me for upsetting him and took off in pursuit of Dad. We didn't get a chance to even tell them we were serious let alone about the wedding."

Sarah looked chastised. "I'm sorry Tim" she said. "I told them about the wedding. I rang them just after we got here and you told me they weren't coming."

"And yet they still didn't contact me" Tim said suspiciously taking out his phone and checking it. There was nothing wrong with it and Tim saw several messages of support and congratulations from the friends who'd been at his buck's party. "No, no messages from Mom or Dad."

"I'm so sorry" Sarah said leaning over to hug her big brother.

"It doesn't really matter, they haven't been part of my life for a long time now" Tim said resigned. "I'll catch you before you leave."

Sarah watched concerned as he hurried from the room and thought about warning her new brother-in-law what had just happened.

-o0o-

"You look after my grandson, young man. I'm depending on you" Penny told Hadrian as she was leaving. "And that little boy of yours, he's a treasure!"

"They both are" Hadrian agreed grinning. "I'll take care of them both. Feel free to stay with us any time you're in DC. We have plenty of room."

"I might take you up on that" Penny said.

"Where are you off to now?" Tim asked affectionately.

"I'm headed for Papua New Guinea" Penny said sounding slightly awkward.

"With a stopover to see Mom and Dad in Hawaii" said without resentment. "Have fun."

-o0o-

A/N: Thank you to Firehedgehog, Locket1, Kourtney Uzu Yato, Guest, Almonda, Bella216, aisa.32, buterflypuss, lilly-flower15, Rori Potter, MeraHunt, charm13insomnia, xDarklightx, DS2010, Dedicated4reading, mother oracle, acherongoddess, serenityselena, Silvermane1, julschristine975, avidereader101, mayawene, Gracie15Trowa, PercyJacksonROCKS4ever, .9, icyquest4, SpiritBlackPaw, yngoldfogee (Guest), Merlenyn, foxwolf101, SilBlood, ElisaMiranda, earthdragon77, NyxLoon, LaverdaHarleyIndian, Ratchet-999, Catchfire, Kori no megami, Lying Knaves, weeping angels, Goddess-Akria, Yugioh and Inuyasha lover, polgara255, Rowen-bsg, Sylvie Chevasson, Dark-hunterxONihime, kayhandd, ccanuel6, Seravonjia d' Felys, Geistervogel, claire nunnaly, FIREBLISSFEATHER, masterpencro, Elemental wings, Mikado Tora, sifshadowhear, Jayne Lucifer, Fabianadat, Lizziliane, DownUnderFan, AnmialsRainbows, darkfairy20, .520 and Hoppy159 for your support.


	37. Chapter 37

Chapter 37

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or NCIS or any of their characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do NOT give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

-o0o-

Hadrian was thrilled to receive a package from Tim's mother the day they arrived back in DC. It seemed that they'd underestimated the woman's love for her son. He took it into Tim and Tim smiled as he saw the label. "I guess she can stand up to the Admiral when it matters after all" he said opening the package.

"I guess not" he said flatly a moment later seeing the gifts that he'd bought for both his parents unwrapped and returned. He searched through the packaging carefully but there was no note.

"Maybe Sarah would like them" he said doubtfully.

"Throw them out so you don't have to think about them anymore. You don't want them sitting around reminding you" Hadrian said hugging his husband. "I'm so sorry."

"No you have no reason to be sorry" Tim said returning the hug. "This was there decision, not yours. And if I had to make a choice between you I'd pick you every time."

Hadrian called Tollie to come and look after Teddy and led Tim upstairs to their bedroom. Climbing onto the bed he put Tim's favourite documentary channel on the TV and they snuggled together watching quietly.

Tim took comfort from the familiar embrace and let himself be distracted. "It's not like we've been close for years" he said softly.

"I know" Hadrian agreed.

"I love you" Tim said kissing his husband.

"I love you too" Hadrian replied, kissing back.

-o0o-

Ziva watched Gibbs and McGee carefully when they returned to work, looking for differences in their behaviour to see how Gibbs reacted to finally being told that the wedding was a prank, of course it was possible he'd known all along but he really wasn't the type to go along with a prank.

Tim arrived while Gibbs was away from his desk, he looked relaxed and cheerful but not more than normal for him over the last twelve months or so. Not like she would expect him to behave if he was newly married. He sat and booted up his computer and began going through his emails as they didn't have any ongoing cases because of their leave.

Gibbs arrived back and Tim greeted him casually. "Morning Tim. Have a good trip back?"

"Uneventful" Tim replied. "Which is the best you can hope for when travelling with Teddy."

Gibbs grinned. "Ain't that the truth" he said amused.

Ziva was confused, Tim and Gibbs had seemed closer since Tim came back after being shot in the shoulder but this joking camaraderie was new. Perhaps Gibbs had been in on the joke.

She noticed Tim was wearing a ring she hadn't seen before. It looked antique, like one of the old head of house rings used to seal the wax on letters but fancier. He wore it on his left ring finger but it didn't look anything like any wedding ring she'd ever seen and a ring that old was probably too valuable unaltered to have resized, Ziva rationalised. She discounted it as a wedding ring, Tim was too traditional, in her opinion, not to wear a gold wedding band. She wondered where he'd got it and if it was part of the prank.

Tony arrived just minutes before Gibbs would consider him late, half an hour before the start of the workday. "Hey Tim, how'd it go?" He asked.

"Great Sarah and Penny both came" Tim said smiling. "And some friends of Hades' from England. It was everything we'd hoped for."

Tony grinned, though he was a little hurt that Tim could consider the wedding 'everything he'd hoped for' without him there.

"How about you Ziva? Did you have a good holiday?" Tony asked cheerfully. "Kill anyone interesting? Start an international incident? Wage war on the CIA?"

"Tony stop being a turkey. I spent the weekend with friends in New York" Ziva replied.

"I think you mean 'Goose' Ziva" Gibbs said hiding his amusement as always. He answered his phone and spoke abruptly for a moment. "Gear up. We've got a dead Navy dependent down at Norfolk."

The three of them jumped, gathered their things and hurried to the elevator, bickering about who was going to drive the truck.

Hours later on their return, Gibbs sent Tony down to Abby's lab.

"Hey Abbs" Tony greeted her.

"Tony, you haven't been down all day!" She exclaimed.

"We got a call out as soon as I got here" Tony said handing over the evidence and explaining to her the priorities. "Did you have a good rest of your holiday?"

Tony had been roped into taking Abby to the concert she'd been so upset about Tim refusing to take her. It had been an eye-opening experience. Usually Tony prided himself on being able to fit in almost anywhere, especially anywhere in the club scene. Instead after dutifully responding to Abby's introductions her friends had ignored him, and the rest of the crowd had looked down on him in his regular clubbing outfit of well-fitting leather pants and a silk shirt. The music had been horrendous at an ear-splitting decibel, the venue was cold and drafty, the drinks were watered down and Abby had insisted on him driving so he couldn't even attempt to drown out his misery. He could understand why Tim was so adamant that he didn't enjoy going out with Abby. The thought that he was only there because Tim was off in Massachusetts getting married and hadn't invited only rubbed salt into the bleeding wounds his ears felt like they'd become.

"It was great!" Abby said enthusiastically. "I went to Jinx's after party and then to a gathering out in Georgetown. Where'd you get to?"

"I went home. I obviously wasn't needed and the music was giving me a headache" Tony replied.

"You're as bad as McGee! I thought you'd be more fun" Abby said crossly.

"If you ignored McGee the way you did me the other night I'm not surprised he ducks out as soon as you look like you've got someone else to look after you" Tony retorted. "The only thing that surprises me is that you were able to convince him to go out with you more than once."

He turned and left the lab not wanting or needing to hear the tantrum the lab mistress was about to throw.

By the time Abby got results, she was fuming. Gibbs hadn't been down to see her all day, neither had McGee but she told herself that she didn't want to see that big fat liar anyway. Even Tony hadn't come down since he dropped off the evidence this morning. Now she had results and Gibbs infamous gut had let her down.

She grabbed the printouts and marched up to the bullpen. "Gibbs Gibbs Gibbs" she called rushing over to his desk. "Where is he?" She asked, not seeing him.

Tony picked up the phone and started chasing down the security tapes he'd been trying to talk Tim into getting for the past twenty minutes.

"Coffee" Tim replied shortly.

"He'll be back in a minute Abby. Can I help you?" Ziva asked.

"I have results, important results. Gibbs always comes down when I have results" Abby replied.

"Maybe he's down in your lab looking for you" Ziva suggested.

"Why didn't you come down to see me?" Abby demanded looking at Tim.

"Why would I?" Tim replied. "You've either yelled at me, called me a liar or refused to listen to me every time I've spoken to you in the last month. So forgive me for wanting to stay up here with people who're less likely to insult me to my face." He too picked up his phone and started following up on the information his computer searches brought up.

"Timmy" Abby screeched in protest. "You did lie. You didn't get married."

Tim ignored her and she stamped her foot and started yelling. "You lied to me. I can't trust you with anything anymore."

"What ya doing Abs?" Gibbs asked.

"Timmy's ignoring me" Abby declared smirking.

Gibbs turned to his newlywed agent and heard the end of the phone call. "Looks like he's working" he commented. "What ya doing up here?"

"I had results, important results that could solve the case and you didn't know that. Are you okay Gibbs?" Abby asked trying to feel Gibbs forehead for a fever. 'He must be sick if his Gibbs gut wasn't working' she thought.

"What results?" Gibbs asked, brushing Abby's hand away and looking at DiNozzo and McGee."

"Don't know Boss, she was waiting for you" Tony replied.

"What results Abs?" Gibbs repeated visibly trying not to yell.

Abby told him about the DNA results implicating a female blood relative of the victim.

"McGee background on the victim" Gibbs ordered.

Tim put her picture up on the plasma describing what he'd found out about the petty officer's wife, followed by Tony with information on the petty officer himself. "He can't have done it boss, he was on duty and the security logs and cameras have him in meetings two hours away at the time of the crime" Tony wrapped up his information while Tim typed furiously on his computer setting up searches into the victim's female relatives.

Because of the difficulties due to the fact it was the end of the workday, it took him another hour to get enough details to identify which of them was the killer and Gibbs sent Tony and Ziva out to bring her in before turning to Abby. "How long had you had that information before you told me?" he asked.

"Gibbs?" Abby replied.

"How long Abby?" Gibbs demanded. "And why didn't you give it to Tony or Tim. What would you have done if she'd killed someone else in the last half hour because you didn't pass on the information Tim needed to find her in time?"

"But… but… you always come down to get results. Especially when they're important results. Your gut would've told you to come" Abby protested.

"Do you always wait for me to come and give you the results?" Gibbs asked surprised and angry. "This was the turning point of the investigation. We didn't have the sister on our radar as even a potential witness let alone a suspect. And we're dealing with a woman depraved enough to kill a visibly pregnant woman and the baby. Surely you can see that we need to apprehend her as soon as possible?"

Gibbs was interrupted by his phone.

"Gibbs" he barked into it.

"Jethro" Ducky greeted before getting straight to the point. "The cause of death was the knife wounds, one of them nicked the abdominal aorta and she bled out in minutes but all the other wounds were shallower and all of them stabbed through into one of the babies. It's possible that the infants were the primary target, the victim would have survived an hour or more if the aorta hadn't been nicked. She would have been found in time to save her but not either of the babies."

"Babies? Twins?" Gibbs asked.

"Fraternal twins and from the look of them two different fathers. I'll need DNA to confirm of course but one looks Asian and the other Caucasian" Ducky replied.

"Abby go and get the new tissue samples from Ducky and run the DNA. I want the results the minute you have them" Gibbs ordered sounding closer to being angry than any of them had ever heard him be with Abby before.

"Tony did you investigate the victim's social life?" Gibbs barked knowing that Tony always looked for extramarital affairs.

"Husband has been afloat for the past six months and there was no evidence of regular contact with any males. Neither her phone records or credit cards indicate an affair. Boss?" Tony replied.

Gibbs looked up at the photo of the petty officer and his wife on the plasma. "She was expecting twins and at least one of them wasn't the Petty Officer's child" he said.

"There were charges on their account for a fertility clinic" Tim reported. "The amounts suggest IVF, and a record of a ten thousand dollar payment to a Connie Hays. I searched the name on line and came up with this" Tim said putting an advertisement for egg donation up on the plasma. "The strange thing is that her IP account and bank accounts are also linked to a Jian Cheung. He put the two women up on screen one a dark haired Caucasian with brown eyes and the other a fair skinned woman who looked half Caucasian and half Chinese. "Ten thousand's awfully cheap for an egg donor" Tim concluded.

"They questioned the sister and found that she had been furious to find out that her sister and brother-in-law had gone with an anonymous donor after she'd volunteered her eggs for them to have a baby.

When questioned the petty officer revealed that it had been his wife's decision, she'd been concerned that her sister was already a little overly involved with their lives and the way she'd looked at the petty officer had made them both a little uneasy.

They referred the perpetrator for psychiatric evaluation before charging her.

"I hate it when they turn out to be nuts" Tony complained.

"Being committed to a criminal psychiatric ward wouldn't be any less of a punishment than jail. And if we have her committed without charging her we can always keep the threat of charges to stop her from recovering too quickly if she's putting it on" Tim said.

"Yeah I know! It just seems unsatisfying somehow" Tony whined.

"Thanks Boss" he said as Gibbs slapped him across the back of the head.

-o0o-

Gibbs went down to get the DNA results from Abby when they were due. He didn't want to encourage her behaviour but he also didn't want her upstairs disturbing his team again either.

"What ya got Abs?" he demanded.

"Well the twins are half siblings and they are also not a genetic match to the victim. Maybe she's a surrogate trying to double dip by having two babies at once" Abby speculated.

"McGee said she was paying for IVF, if she wasn't intending to keep the babies she wouldn't have paid the bills" Gibbs replied.

"McGee is a liar. You can't trust him" Abby pouted.

"McGee is one of the most honest young men I have ever known. He doesn't lie to you, you just refuse to listen to him unless it's something you want to hear" Gibbs said wearily.

"He lied about getting married" Abby declared.

"No he didn't. It was a lovely wedding" Gibbs replied.

"Gibbs you can't have a wedding without applying for a licence" Abby stated.

"There are more than fifty states in the USA and Tim has lived in at least five of them. He didn't get married locally. There was no reason why he should. He was legally married last Saturday and it was your own fault you weren't there to see it. I don't want to hear any more about it."

"But Gibbs…"

"But nothing Abby. Let it go! That's an order" Gibbs said uncompromisingly.

"But…"

"Don't make me make it a rule" Gibbs ordered walking out of the lab.

"He didn't bring me a cafpow. I deserved a cafpow" Abby muttered angrily.

-o0o-

By the end of the day Ziva still hadn't seen anything to convince her that Tim was or wasn't married or that he'd got in trouble for trying to prank Gibbs and she put it out of her mind, more interested in her own love life which was going well, though she wasn't willing to share that information with Tony or the team. She realised that Tim may have felt he same way about his relationship but couldn't believe that he would feel ready to propose without feeling ready to tell the team. Eventually, she forgot the whole prank and life went on. Tim was still quite closed off with her and she missed their earlier friendship, on the other hand he seemed to be getting on better with Gibbs and Tony and the team was working well which was all Ziva was used to expecting from work colleagues. Tim and Abby, and for that matter Tony and Abby, were clearly not getting along and Gibbs was surprisingly indulgent with their attempts to avoid confrontation with her. In the past he'd just ordered Tim to go and make things right but now he either sent her down to the lab with evidence or called or went himself. Ziva was sure that Abby was quite happy with the increased attention from Gibbs though she always looked a little put out when Ziva appeared in her lab. This wasn't new though, the scientist and the former Mossad agent had never gotten along well. Ziva wasn't concerned by this believing that they were just both people who preferred the company of men.

-o0o-

Hadrian woke up gasping and quickly reached for the rubbish bin to throw up into.

"Your nightmares are getting worse" Tim said concerned, rubbing his back gently.

"The healer warned me they would. Something about the pregnancy hormones" Hadrian replied.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Tim offered.

Hadrian shook his head and Tim pulled him into his arms rubbing his back comfortingly. Time passed and neither could return to sleep. "I keep dreaming that the baby won't be human" he said.

"Why? Because I don't have magic?" Tim asked.

"No I had these dreams before when I first got cursed. I think it's because I grew up 'knowing' that men couldn't get pregnant" Hadrian replied. "And before Voldemort came back in fourth year he'd possessed a baby and it turned all red and scaly and didn't look human. I keep seeing our baby look like that and being responsible for Voldemort's rebirth. Sometimes I dream about murdering our baby because it's Voldemort and other times I can't hurt it because it's our baby and it grows up to destroy the world." Hadrian had tears running down his face by this time.

"You told me you were sure Voldemort is gone for good this time" Tim reminded him cuddling him closely. "He can't come back and even if he could there's no reason to think it could be through our baby. You don't have a connection to him."

"I know it isn't rational but it just feels so real" Hadrian replied trying to stop crying.

"No don't hold back. You've been trying to hide this for long enough. Let it all out. Maybe it will help" Tim said rocking him gently.

Hadrian sobbed and screamed until he was almost choking on his tears. Tim held him firmly, murmuring reminders that no matter what he wouldn't be facing this alone.

Tollie popped in offering calming potions and sleeping draughts but Tim shook his head. "He's been upset about this for a long time. Unless he's hurting the baby I think it would be better to let him cry it out" he told her softly.

Tollie cast a spell. "Baby be's fine. Youse calls Tollie if needs" she reassured Tim before popping away.

Tim continued to hold him trying to exude calm in spite of his worry and eventually Hadrian exhausted himself and slept. Tim stayed awake watching over his husband.

The alarm went off and Tim dragged himself out of bed. He went and fetched cold water and a cup of tea for Hadrian who was slow to rouse.

"How're you feeling?" Tim asked.

"Urghh" Hadrian replied drinking gratefully and snacking on the crackers beside the bed.

"I think you should take the day off" Tim suggested gently.

"I don't want to fall asleep again on my own" Hadrian replied climbing out of bed. "I'll feel better after I shower."

"Would you like me to call in too" Tim offered. "They can call me if we catch a case."

"No you haven't told the rest of your team about me so it isn't worth the hassle it will cause to take a personal day without a reason. I'll be fine. I only have a couple of classes today and I want to finish up before the baby arrives."

"Well if you're sure. Call me if you change your mind" Tim said doubtfully.

Hadrian got up and showered before meeting Tim and Teddy downstairs for breakfast.

"Bye bye Teddy. I'll see you tonight" Tim said scooping up the toddler for a hug. He put him down and turned to his husband who happily took the little boy in one arm while hugging Tony in the other.

"Have a good day" Tim said kissing Hadrian on the cheek.

"You too. Be safe" Hadrian replied. "Love you"

"I love you. I'll be fine, don't worry" Tim replied grinning.

-o0o-

Tim arrived home looking injured and shaken. "What happened?" Hadrian asked in alarm rushing over to hug his husband. He was still used to being the one in danger and knowing the risks of his actions, not the one sitting at home safely hoping nothing had happened to the man he loved. The way Tim winced at even the lightest hug sent panic though Hadrian's gut.

"I was bitten by a Navy drug dog who they think may have killed its handler" Tim replied.

"You need to see a healer" Hadrian said getting his phone out to call the healer. "Have you seen a doctor?"

"Just Ducky" Tim replied. "He told me to stop at the hospital on my way home."

"He let you drive yourself home?" Hadrian demanded horrified.

"Well he'd cleared me for duty and Gibbs made me drive the dog back to the yard" Tim replied.

"You mean the dog's body?" Hadrian asked.

"No, I shot it and knocked it unconscious but it's still alive" Tim replied.

Hadrian huffed furiously. "You will tell me the rest later" he demanded before apparating Tim to the healer's rooms.

Hadrian insisted on accompanying Tim to the healer. "He needs the injury fully documented for the mundane authorities" he told him firmly.

"That's not necessary" Tim argued. "If I put in an injury report then I'll have to let it heal the mundane way. I just want to get it healed and forget about the whole incident.

"You were injured in the line of duty and none of your colleagues even bothered to send you to a doctor. You could have had your throat ripped out. You almost died" Hadrian whispered almost in tears.

Tim hugged him tightly and turned to the doctor. "Is there any way for you to heal my injury at least enough to take away the pain and restore function while making it look like it has to heal the mundane way?" he asked.

"I can take away the pain, prevent the risk of getting an infection which is quite high from an animal bite and guarantee it will heal fully without making it look healed but you still wouldn't be able to use the arm while it finishes healing the mundane way and it will scar though I should be able to keep the scarring to a minimum. I mean the minimum scarring you could have if it healed without magical intervention. Or of course I could take extensive photos then fully heal the wound and apply a glamour to make it appear unhealed. You of course would still have to act like it's injured to pull off the deception" Healer Roberts replied. "You would also have to come back perhaps twice a week to have the glamour reapplied to show some healing.

"Okay, document it fully and then heal it" Hadrian compromised. "I'm not willing to risk inflicting permanent scarring on him just to report his team for negligence."

"Yes, write me up a full report and I'll come back twice weekly for the transfiguration. Of course that might be difficult if we get a case" Tim agreed.

"You won't be able to go on cases. You need to pretend that you're still injured and that means staying on medical leave. And you'll include the medical report in your report on the case" Hadrian pressed.

"Yes indeed, if we left this to heal without magic then I'd be writing you up for at least four weeks in a sling without using that arm at all which includes no driving or using your hand to type, or even shower and dress yourself" Healer Roberts said firmly. "And probably another eight weeks of light duty after that."

Tim sighed. "It's going to cause trouble" he said. "It's really not worth it."

"Of course, you're worth it" Hadrian snapped. "They deserve to get in trouble for not taking your injuries seriously. You should have been sent straight to the hospital. They need to be reprimanded so that it doesn't happen again" Hadrian demanded. "I swear to you if I lose you due to their negligence I'll make each of them beg for me to kill them."

Tim was slightly taken aback by his fierceness, this was the Harry Potter who had stood before the Dark Lord and won because his desire to protect his friends was stronger than anything that Voldemort had ever seen before.

"Okay Hades, I'll include the medical report" Tim promised his lover, not mentioning that whether the inclusion would get further than Gibbs wastepaper basket remained to be seen.

"Good" Hadrian said fully prepared to take a copy to the director if that's what it took to make sure Tim's team knew not to ignore a teammate's injury again in future.

Later that night after waking up with nightmares for the third time Tim told Hadrian the full story of what had happened. How he'd been forced to drive the dog home, how Abby had taken the dog's side and told him off for shooing the animal, what had happened to the new jacket Hadrian had bought him, and about the dog attack CD DiNozzo had found so funny.

Hadrian was struggling to contain his anger as he comforted Tim.

-o0o-

A/N: Thank you to charm13insomnia, Locket1, Almonda, julschristine975, Kourtney Uzu Yato, Rori Potter, mayawene, Dedicated4reading, lilly-flower15, Lientjuhh, xDarklightx, lia (Guest), Firehedgehog, SpiritBlackPaw, buterflypuss, Village-Mystic, DS2010, acherongoddess, DarkRavie, Gracie15Trowa, Silvermane1, PercyJacksonROCKS4ever, serenityselena, Merlenyn, .9, Queen Slytherin 92, laloonay, SJReynolds, Damien Evermere, dragonbrother forever, TheThaw, Nekoraychan, ShiroHollow96, dax12, BlackPhoenix913, Fixtictious Fanasty, ShadowsInDreams, Amazing Girl, Kerral, LiveFreeDieWell, SassyTyrone, sourstrawberries, grapes'-paperweight, BooksCoffeeLife, ghh422, Illyriel, forgiving and Lightning Fox Elemental for your support.


	38. Chapter 38

Chapter 38

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or NCIS or any of their characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do NOT give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

-o0o-

Hadrian stormed into Gibbs house early Saturday morning and following Tim's directions down to the basement.

"How could you ignore that Tim was injured for hours and hours?" He demanded without waiting to be acknowledged.

"Where's Tim?" Gibbs asked concerned.

"In surgery" Hadrian snapped. Healer Roberts had detailed exactly what he would have needed to do to if he were to treat Tim's injury the muggle way. Hadrian had comforted Tim until he fell asleep then cast a light sleeping charm on his husband so he wouldn't wake up while Hadrian was out confronting Gibbs. "He needed to have the whole wound debrided and then the layers of muscle repaired. The plastic surgeons are still hopeful of a complete recovery but said that the risk of infection is very high because he waited so long before coming to the hospital. Why didn't you or Ducky send him for proper treatment straight away?"

"And to make him drive that bloody dog back to the yard and let Abby abuse him like that. He shouldn't have been driving at all with his injuries and the amount of cocaine in his system from the dog bites" Hadrian continued ranting.

Unbeknownst to him his magical aura was flaring just below the visible range, making Gibbs hair stand on end as a never before experienced breeze blew around the basement.

"What was he even doing at the back door by himself? Why wasn't someone with him. There were four of you. Did you really need three people at the front door that much? Why didn't you call for backup rather than making Tim take such a risk?"

"We really didn't think there was a risk. We believed the house was empty" Gibbs replied.

"He could have died Gibbs. I could have lost him" Hadrian began to sob, turning in an instant from someone even Gibbs was wary of into a worried spouse. "I've got to go."

"You shouldn't be driving. Would you like me to drive you back to the hospital?" Gibbs offered.

"No! I'm fine, unlike Tim I haven't just been injured" Hadrian snapped bitterly. "I don't want you anywhere near Tim. You can wait to see him on Monday. I'm sure he'll insist that I bring him in to work. If I had my way Agent Gibbs, Tim would be applying for a transfer to a team that will give him the respect he deserves and back him up in the field properly. He has received offers from most of the other agencies here in Washington and I would happily leave DC if he wanted to stay with NCIS and be posted elsewhere. Make no mistake Gibbs things need to improve in your team if you want to keep my husband." He subtly cast a couple of spells, one to make Gibbs remember his words and take his threat seriously, and the other to permanently increase his need to protect Tim."

-o0o-

To say Gibbs was stricken to see the immobiliser sling Tim turned up in the next day indicating the seriousness of his injury, would be an understatement. His reaction when he saw the pictures of the damage and the doctor's certificate saying that Tim would be unable to use his arm at all for the next month had him cursing. He stormed down to Autopsy and threw the pictures on Ducky's desk.

"Jethro? What…" Ducky asked.

"McGee's injuries. He had surgery last night and is out of the field for three months" Gibbs said.

"I had no idea he was hurt that badly" Ducky said. "He wasn't in that much pain."

"Probably because the dog had cocaine in his teeth. I also have a letter from the doctors explaining why I won't be able to pass a random drug test for at least the next few weeks" Tim interjected, having followed his boss down.

"I'm sorry Timothy. I had no idea" Ducky apologised, horrified that he'd let an injury like that go untreated. Particularly since it was caused by a bite and was therefore a high infection risk. "Does your surgeon think you'll get full use back in the arm?" he asked.

"It's possible" Tim replied.

"Well I'll see HR and get you put on injury leave for the next month" Gibbs said. "Hang about while I get it sorted and I'll have someone give you a lift home. You didn't drive in did you?"

"No Boss Hades drove me in" Tim replied. "But I can still do computer searches and stuff."

"You were injured in the field through no fault of your own. Don't worry about your job Tim, it will be here waiting for you when you've recovered. I'm sure Hadrian will appreciate the extra hand finishing up the unpacking and settling onto the new house, even if it is only one."

Tim laughed. "I'm sure he will." He agreed thinking of his now quite pregnant husband and the struggle he was beginning to have keeping up with the active three year old they had at home. "I'd still like to finish this case though."

"Okay then, go and start the computer searches and I'll arrange a ride home at lunch. There's no need for you to be here and in pain all day."

Tim felt guilty because he wasn't in any pain and his arm was fully healed, he just wasn't able to let his non magical boss and team know that. "Thanks Boss."

-o0o-

"Abby's pressuring me to take Jethro" Tim said hesitantly as they arrived at the healer for him to reglamour the wound to show the healing beginning a couple of days later.

"To take Gibbs where?" Hadrian asked confused.

"Not Gibbs, the dog. She's renamed him Jethro and she talked the navy dog handlers into retiring him rather than reassigning him then found out her apartment doesn't allow dogs. Apparently my old apartment did. Abby rang to check. I think I'm going to have to agree to take him to get any peace" Tim said reluctantly, embarrassed to admit that Abby could manipulate him so easily.

"Absolutely not! Are you out of your mind?" Hadrian asked incredulously.

"I don't want to take him any more than you do but Abby will be impossible until I agree. I don't know what to do" Tim moaned. "She said that refusing to take him will prove to everybody that I'm a really lousy friend and can't be trusted."

"That's bullshit Abby has never been a good friend to you and she hasn't acted like a friend at all since you were shot. Don't worry about what she says about you. Everyone that knows her will just see it as another attempt to manipulate you and get her own way like a spoiled child. Abby can't get through our wards. She's never going to know if we don't keep the wretched dog" Hadrian exploded.

"If she's just planning on visiting the dog the wards wouldn't register that as meaning me harm. She might be able to get through the wards" Tim said uncertainly.

"Then I can set another ward specifically keyed to keep her out" Hadrian pointed out.

"You said you're already at the maximum amount of wards we can have without destroying the neighbours' electronics" Tim reminded him.

Hadrian sighed. "Yeah we are" he agreed reluctantly.

"That dog is a trained drug dog. It's never been trained to be a pet. It's never been around children. What about Teddy. He's only a little boy if he's rough with the dog he could be attacked, and the baby in a couple of months when it starts to crawl" Hadrian pointed out.

"What are we going to do?" Tim moaned.

"Well I'd like to sick that dog on Miss Abby Scuito, or we could agree to keep the dog only until her lease runs out. I could permanently transfigure him into a stuffed toy or statue of a dog until she's ready to take him or we could contact Pax River and hand the dog over to them. You said that they were willing to reassign the dog until Abby talked them into letting her keep him" Hadrian replied.

"Will it hurt the dog to be transfigured like that?" Tim asked.

"No we used animals all the time in class when we were learning transfiguration and they didn't seem distressed by it' Hadrian reassured him.

"And can you be sure the spell won't wear off or something?" Tim asked.

"With the level of power I have the spell should last years if not decades but we could keep the toy in the cage just in case if it makes you feel safer" Hadrian suggested. "This is the only way I'm willing to have that killer in our home so it's either I transfigure it into something harmless or you find another home for it Tim" he added firmly.

"Yeah I don't want it here and it would be easier if it's a toy we won't have to feed it or walk it or clean up after it" Tim agreed to the plan. "Can you meet me at the Navy Yard after work tomorrow and make it sleep or something until we get it home?"

"Of course' Hadrian said hugging Tim as he realised how frightened he still was of the dog. "It might be better to stop somewhere and do the transfiguration too. We don't want the neighbours seeing us bring a dog into the house and then have it disappear. Not to mention I'm not sure we'd get the dog through the wards unless it's been rendered harmless."

"We don't have to keep the dog in the house at all. We could keep it in your apartment or hire a storage shed for it. It's not like a plushie toy needs company or supervision" Hadrian suggested. Tim had a few weeks left on the lease on his apartment and his lease hadn't allowed him to sublet so it was sitting empty. This suited Tim just fine as it meant that he didn't have to file a change of address at work and explain how he was now affording to live in such an expensive house.

"But then we'd have to go and check on it every day so that it wouldn't starve if the spell wore off" Tim objected.

"I think the notification charms for intruders would trigger if it became a large dog again" Hadrian replied. "I could tweak them a bit to make sure. You know though the simplest thing would be to talk to Gibbs and get him to make her back off. He was genuinely upset when he realised how badly you'd been bitten.

"A dog who has mauled a human as badly as this should be put down" Healer Roberts said.

"But he was cleared of murder" Tim replied.

"Murder? What murder? I'm talking about your injuries" the healer said firmly.

"He's right Tim. Even if he didn't kill his handler he would have killed you if you hadn't shot him. He's not safe to have around children" Hadrian said. "It would be one thing if he were going back into service where he was with a trained handler. But neither of us nor Abby is. What would happen if she kept him and took him for a walk one day and one of the children in the park got too close and upset him somehow?"

Tim paled "You're right. I'll contact Pax River."

-o0o-

Tim did contact Pax River and they agreed to take the dog. He also told them about the entire incident how while the dog had been cleared of any involvement with the death of his handler he had seriously mauled an NCIS agent. They requested that he email the photos of the agent's injuries and after seeing them decided that the dog was to undergo strenuous retraining before being cleared to return to the field.

"Your scientist Miss Scuito seemed very attached to the dog" he commented. "What lead to the change of heart?"

"Not attached enough to break her lease and move to housing that allows pets" Tim said dryly. "She's still against putting the dog back into service and is pressing me to adopt the dog for her but I'm worried about the safety of my children."

"If the dog does not pass its retraining it will be put down. In no way, could I tell anyone that this dog would be a safer family pet. They're not trained that way and having mauled someone once it will always be a risk of doing it again. I know there were extenuating circumstances but frankly that's the only reason Butch is even being given a chance at retraining" the head of the dog handling division said.

"If you can give me a time for the collection, I'll make sure Abby isn't present" Tim offered.

-o0o-

"I need you to get Abby out of the yard by sixteen-hundred tomorrow afternoon" Tim said to Gibbs.

"Why? What's happening at sixteen hundred?" Gibbs asked.

"The handlers from Pax River are coming to collect Butch" Tim said bluntly.

"Abby told me you wanted the dog" Gibbs said questioningly.

"I have a small child at home Gibbs, and another on the way. Why would I possibly want a dangerous dog in the house?" Tim asked.

"Then why do Abby, Tony and Ziva all believe you wanted the dog?" Gibbs asked.

"Abby wanted me to take the dog because I'm the only person she thinks she can manipulate that doesn't have a lease that precludes pets. And once Abby decided I should take him no other possible outcomes existed in her mind" Tim retorted. "Ziva and Tony just believe that I'll cave and go along with her to keep the peace and if it wasn't for Hades support and the risk to Teddy, I might have done."

"I'm sorry McGee. I should have realised" Gibbs broke Rule 6 for him.

Tim sighed, "The handlers will be here about Sixteen hundred tomorrow and they will be taking the dog by force if necessary. After the commander at Pax River saw the photos of my injuries he agreed that the dog isn't safe for civilian life. Butch will go through retraining and he's on his last strike. If he attempts to bite anyone else or if he fails his drug training he will be put down. If you care about Abby then have her out of here when they come."

"I'll see to it" Gibbs replied gruffly.

-o0o-

"Why didn't you let me say goodbye to Jethro" Abby demanded stomping into the bullpen they morning after the dog was collected.

"After the fuss you made last time the handlers arrived to collect him I thought it was easier for everyone if they came while you weren't there" Tim replied refusing to sound apologetic for not exposing the dog handlers to Abby's hysterics.

"You sent him back to Pax River? You were supposed to take him home with you McGee. You can't just abandon your responsibilities like that. Call Pax River and get them to bring him back" Abby ordered.

"I told you time and again that I didn't want to take the dog. That dog nearly killed me and I would never feel safe in its presence" Tim replied barely keeping control of his temper.

"But Timmy how could you do that to Jethro? He needs a living home" Abby demanded.

"He's a working dog Abby, he'll be happier with a purpose in life" Tim replied.

"But I'll never see him if he's reallocated a handler" Abby pouted.

"Pax River is just over ninety minutes from here. I'm sure his new handler would let you visit if you're prepared to follow his rules about the dog" Tim said exasperated at her selfishness.

"You should have kept him. He was your responsibility.

"No he wasn't Abby, it was your insistence that he not go back to work that made him homeless. He was your responsibility" Tim argued futilely.

"You shot him" Abby screeched, "you owed him a home."

"I shot him in defence of my life. Surely you wouldn't have preferred that I lay there and let him kill me" Tim said bluntly.

"What? No of course not but Jethro wouldn't have killed you" Abby argued. "I told Jethro that you would take him and give him a home. He deserves a real home after all he's been through."

"And I have a right to feel safe in my own home Abby" Tim yelled. "It's time that you learned that the world in general and my life in particular doesn't have to bow down to meet every little desire of one Ms Abigail Scuito! You didn't want to keep him. You insisted he was my responsibility" Tim said. "So, I did what was in everyone's best interest including Butch."

"His name is Jethro" Abby yelled.

"The dog's name is Butch. You can't just change an adult dog's name" Gibbs replied. "And Tim should never have been in the position of having to decide the dog's care. He was a lot more generous with Butch than I would've been. He argued that the dog deserved a chance at retraining rather than being put down."

"They weren't going to put him down. Jethro was cleared of the murder" Abby argued.

"But not of the attempted murder of McGee. Once the handlers at Pax River saw McGee's injuries they decided he wasn't safe to retire" Gibbs replied. "It's done Abby. Let it go! That's an order."

"I'm going to see Jethro" Abby declared.

"You can't" Tim said. "Butch is not allowed access to anyone except his handler while he's in retraining. And if you keep calling him Jethro while his handlers call him Butch you're going to confuse the poor dog."

"You've got him locked up in prison" Abby screeched moving to slap Tim.

Gibbs caught her hand. "You ever try to slap one of my agents again I'll have you up on disciplinary action" he threatened.

-o0o-

Six weeks later Tim got a call from the officer at Pax River informing him that Butch had attempted to bite a handler and had been put down.

-o0o-

Hadrian rang Tim about five o'clock on a Wednesday night. Luckily, they were in the office writing up the reports for the case they'd just closed.

"McGee" Tim answered distractedly.

"Hi Tim. I need you to come home" Hadrian replied. His voice sounded a little off as if he was grimacing.

"Is everything okay?" Tim asked concerned.

"Everything's fine but I'm in labour. Tollie is bathing Teddy now and Zillie is cooking them dinner but

I need to go to the hospital" Hadrian said.

"Do you want me to meet you there?" Tim asked.

"I'm not sure where it is. It will be quicker if you come home here and we use the portkey that Healer Tulen gave us. I've already called him and he'll meet us there" Hadrian explained.

"I'll just tell Gibbs and I'll be on my way. Do you need me to use the emergency portkey?" he asked trying to be quiet but starting to panic.

"No the healer said I still have a couple of hours before I absolutely need to be there but to come as soon as I can because there's no need to put up with the contractions when I can't deliver that way anyway" Hadrian said calmly.

"I'll be there as soon as I can" Tim said "I love you."

"I love you too" Hadrian replied.

Tim hung up and looked at his team leader. "Boss I've got to go. I've got the report format on my tablet and can work on it at home and print it for you first thing in the morning" he said anxiously.

"Got a hot date McGoo? You know Boss won't just let us leave like that" Tony replied.

Gibbs however looked at his young agent assessingly. "Is everything all right?" He asked concerned.

"Yeah! I just really need to be home right now" Tim answered urgently.

"Go then. You can explain in the morning" Gibbs replied, insinuating that the explanation had better be a good one.

"Thanks Boss" Tim said grabbing his stuff and just about running to the elevator.

"How come we have to stay and finish our reports if McGee gets to snip out early?" Ziva asked.

"I think you mean cut out Ziva" Tony corrected. "But she's right Boss we should be allowed to finish our reports tomorrow too?"

"Weren't you listening when he asked to leave? He obviously got some news that upset him and made him need to go. Tim will complete his report tonight. And it's been weeks since I've had to send his reports back to him to fix the information contained or the spelling and grammar so the draft he gives me first thing in the morning is likely to be the final copy so his report will still probably be finished before yours Ziva" Gibbs replied.

Tim hurried home and found Hadrian calmly waiting in the lounge with his bag packed and beside him. Teddy was playing on the floor at his feet with Tollie watching from across the room as she dusted the already immaculate room to keep herself busy. "You are allowed to just sit and watch him, or join in playing with his toys if you like" Hadrian was telling the conscientious elf.

"I knows Master Hadrian" Tollie replied. "I enjoys beings cleaning and Master Teddy is happys with you."

"He's happy playing with you too" Hadrian reassured her.

"Are you ready to go?" Tim asked rushing over to help Hadrian to his feet.

"As soon as I've had a hug from Teddy" Hadrian replied reaching out for the little boy who happily ran over. Tim picked him up hugging him before holding him out so he could hug Hadrian without Hadrian taking his weight.

"Bye Teddy, be good for Tollie and we'll see you tomorrow" Hadrian said calmly.

"Bye Teddy" Tim said kissing the little boy on the forehead.

"Teddy come too" Teddy asked.

"Sorry Teddy you can't come with us" Tim said firmly. "We're going to be late home and you need your sleep so you have plenty of energy to play tomorrow."

"Harry and Tim play with me tomorrow?" Teddy asked.

"I'll definitely play with you after work tomorrow" Tim replied smiling at the little boy and putting him down in front of his toys. He picked up the bag and Hadrian held out the portkey making sure they were both touching it before saying the activation phrase.

A/N: Thank you to Gottahavemyncis, icyquest4, Rori Potter, Vladimir Mithrander, julschristine975, sifshadowheart, lilly-flower15, Bella216, .9, Almonda, Locket1, BCgurlie, SpiritBlackPaw, Winged Dire Wolf7, xDarklightx, Lady Rosencrantz, charm13insomnia, Firehedgehog, serenityselena, notsofrilly, Guest, DS2010, mother oracle, gabrieljuarezl, buterflypuss, acherongoddess, Magouille, TheHuntresss, Silvermane1, mayawene, PercyJacksonROCKS4ever, Dedicated4reading, Kris (Guest), Gracie15Trowa, DavidNeko, sunnyskies07, IcyThing, Naezee, ciel-de-crystal, chivini, Sehmet, Harriet Noir, Beautiful Kaos, CrimsonHellcat, mmagicwolf, DavusAntonius, rbone5, flagirl91, Lilypad1820, Skye Kitten, The Lazy Princess, Readerholic90, Gaia-GoddessofEarth, InkWave, Alathea18, PianoGirl1932, viki83, Cat728, , 0Thunderbird0 and Chishio Ame for your support.


	39. Chapter 39

Chapter 39

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or NCIS or any of their characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do NOT give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

Hadrian was very calm as they checked in and he was prepped for the caesarean. He'd had some horrific injuries repaired by the healers in the past and had absolute confidence in their ability to cut him open, remove the baby and fully heal him without any pain or damage to himself or the baby. It was Tim that was freaking out. He had very little experience with magical healing and the absence of modern medical equipment and an anaesthetist frightened him. The fact that he would not be allowed to stay in the room while the procedure was done also concerned him. The total silence from the room Hadrian was in didn't help. Hadrian had warned him that there would probably be silencing charms but he hadn't understood the emotional impact of not being able to hear anything of what was going on. He paced around the waiting room wishing he had a friend or family member that knew about magic that could be there with him. Remembering that Ducky knew about magic he considered calling but couldn't work out a way to explain what was going on particularly as Ducky had limited exposure to the magical world since coming to America and probably didn't know about male pregnancy being possible.

Eventually the healer came and beckoned him in. Hadrian was sitting up in bed comfortably holding a tiny bundle wrapped in white.

"Hey" he said softly smiling up at Tim. He patted the side of the bed inviting Tim to sit next to him.

"I don't want to hurt you" Tim protested coming across to kiss his cheek.

"I'm fully healed up" Hadrian reassured him before looking back towards the baby. "Isn't she beautiful?"

"A girl!" Tim breathed in wonder. Ten seconds ago he would have said he didn't care what gender the baby was though he did secretly think it would be easier to bring up a second boy but now he was totally thrilled she was a girl. He reached out and gently touched her cheek, smiling even more when she turned her head towards his fingers.

"Would you like to hold her" Hadrian offered, though Tim could see that he was reluctant to give her up.

Tim climbed on the bed and used his extra height to wrap his arms around them both, taking some of her slight weight from Hadrian. "She's perfect" he said, in spite of only being able to see about half her face she was wrapped so thoroughly.

"Yes" Hadrian agreed having seen a little more.

"Are you still happy with 'Rose Penelope' as her name?" Tim asked.

"Yeah" Tim said smiling. "Rose Penelope Black?"

Hadrian sighed. "She will be the Potter/ Peveral heir so she needs to be a Peveral, Potter, Potter-Black, Peveral-Black, Peveral-McGee or Potter McGee, or we could be really horrible parents and saddle the poor child with all four surnames or more" he replied.

"Do you have a preference?" Tim asked.

"Potter-Black or Potter McGee" Hadrian said. "Peveral is an ancestor's name but it doesn't mean anything to me emotionally."

"It would be easier at school if she was a Black like Teddy" Tim said frowning a little. He'd really like his daughter to have his name but it would be easier for the school paperwork.

"Rose Potter Black McGee and "Theodore Lupin Black McGee" Hadrian suggested.

They will curse you while learning to write their names and filling out forms" Tim laughed.

"They deserve to have your name as well. To know that they belong to both of us" Hadrian replied.

"Did you feel bad not having the same name as your relatives?" Tim asked.

"They made sure I didn't feel like I belonged to them long before I knew my surname and I hated them so I'm glad I didn't have their name. But it did kind of make me feel like I didn't fit in anywhere not having anyone with the same name as me" Hadrian said thoughtfully.

"Teddy and Rose will never feel like that" Tim promised him. "Are we going to call her Rose then, or are you going to give her a nickname?"

Hadrian shrugged. "It's pretty hard to shorten Rose. We'll have to wait and see what we feel like calling her as we get to know her better."

Tim leaned back still holding them both and Hadrian snuggled in drifting off to sleep.

The nurse came in. "You'll spoil her" she said moving across to take the baby and put her in her crib.

"The literature is big on letting a baby fall asleep in their crib so they learn to self settle but I don't think it matters what we do when she's already asleep" Tim replied.

The nurse could not be swayed in her actions and gently placed the baby in her crib moving it close to the bed so both fathers could still see her. "Have you decided on a name?" she asked.

"Rose Penelope Potter-Black-McGee" Tim replied.

"'Penelope Rose' sounds better" the nurse commented.

"Perhaps, but we want to call her Rose not Penny or Penelope and there'll be enough confusion with her surnames" Tim said firmly.

"I suppose so" the nurse replied.

-o0o-

Rose had been in her crib about ten minutes before she started to cry, waking Hadrian who looked around in a panic for her.

"The nurse came in and put her in her crib" Tim said standing up to go pick her up again.

She immediately started to quiet and looked at Tim.

"Hey there Rose I'm your Daddy, well your other Daddy" Tim said.

Rose stopped fussing to listen to his words so he kept talking to her telling her all about how much they loved and wanted her and about her brother Teddy, letting Hadrian sleep for another hour before rose started fussing again.

Hadrian rang the nurse for a bottle while Tim changed their daughter's nappy.

The nurse came in and watched Tim finish redressing the baby. "You're good at that" she commented.

"I don't feel it. It's been a long time since my sister was in nappies, and she was a lot bigger than this before my parents would let me change her" Tim replied handing Rose to Hadrian and washing his hands.

"She slept well"

"Actually she didn't, she's been awake since about ten minutes after you were in here last" Tim replied.

"Really? You should have woken me" Hadrian said.

"You needed the sleep and we were getting to know one another. She was happy listening to me talk until a few minutes ago. Weren't you Rose?" Tim directed the last comment at the baby and Hadrian and the nurse could see him looking like he was listening to her answer.

"Well, she's due a feed and then wrap her up tightly and put her back into the crib to settle herself. The sooner she learns the better" the nurse instructed. "do you remember how I swaddled her earlier?"

"Yes thank you" Hadrian replied.

"When can you come home?" Tim asked frustrated by the nurse's attitude.

"The healer wants me to rest twenty-four hours so not until tomorrow evening" Hadrian replied.

"Okay then, I'll go into work tomorrow and put in my leave for a week from Monday" Tim planned.

"It's nearly two o'clock, you better get some sleep if you're going to work" Hadrian said scooting over further to the side of the bed. "I'd make it bigger but the healer said no magic for twelve hours."

"It's fine" Tim replied. He waited for Hades to finish feeding Rose then burped her, wrapped her up and put her in her crib where immediately started to fuss and then cry.

The nurse returned. "Leave her in the crib, she'll soon settle. Do you want me to take her out to the nursery until she's asleep?" she said.

"No thank you we want to keep her with us" Hadrian answered before Tim could refuse.

"Well, don't say I didn't tell you" the nurse replied before leaving.

They let her cry for about ten minutes but she seemed to be getting more and more upset.

"I can't stand this" Hadrian said moving to get out of bed.

"I'll get her" Tim said stopping him from getting up. He picked up the screaming baby and again as soon as he was cuddling her and talking to her, Rose started to settle.

"You just don't like being all alone in your crib do you?" Tim said to her.

"Your Papa and I are right here. We didn't like you being so far away either."

He handed the baby carefully to Hadrian. "Hello Rose" Hadrian said tiredly. "Do you think you could go to sleep for us? Your Daddy and I need to get some sleep. Daddy especially if he's going to work tomorrow. He has a very important job but it can be dangerous and he needs to be well rested and wide awake."

Hadrian and Tim lay on the narrow bed with the baby snuggled between them. She seemed okay with lying flat as long as one of her fathers was close by. "Do you think she isn't warm enough in her crib?" Hadrian asked.

"I think she was lonely but we could try a warm blanket" Tim replied. "Do you want me to go and ask for one?"

"I want her here with us but there really isn't enough room" Hadrian replied. "I don't want you to spend the night half awake worrying about falling out of bed. You need to sleep."

"I'm fine. I like having her here with us" Tim replied.

"She's asleep" Hadrian said quietly.

"You don't need to whisper, she seems to like hearing us talking" Tim said watching her in awe.

Neither man got much sleep both unwilling to take their eyes off their daughter and reacting every time she moved or made the slightest noise. They were just losing the battle against sleep when Rose started to wake. Hadrian pushed the call bell to ask for a bottle and checked her nappy then got out of bed, carefully picking her up and carrying her over to change.

"What do you need?" A nurse asked.

"Oh I hear the problem, someone sounds hungry!"

"It's only been three hours. Can she have another bottle already?" Hadrian asked.

"So long as she's drinking the whole bottle each time you should feed her as soon as she wants it. If she's only drinking about half then it would be better if you made her wait a little. It won't hurt her either way but you won't want to be up feeding her every two or three hours at home if you don't need to" the nurse explained reassuringly.

"The other nurse said we needed to put her in her crib and let her cry herself to sleep" Hadrian said. "We couldn't do it."

"She does eventually need to learn to settle herself or you'll have a terrible time getting her to go to bed later but she's young enough to wait a month or two before you force the issue. The nonmagical maternal health nurses have some good program's to help if she hasn't learnt by three or four months" the nurse replied cheerfully. "Of course, you could always spell her to sleep once she's six months old but you can't do that before then otherwise she won't wake up often enough to feed properly. And you do need to let her learn to go to sleep on her own as well.

"Thank you" Hadrian said reassured. "We have a little boy but he's only been living with us since he was three. He was six months old before his grandmother would leave me alone with him for more than a couple of minutes."

The nurse laughed. "Most new parents are anxious. Just remember she's not quite as fragile as she looks and you can't really go too far wrong so long as you're gentle with her, love her and keep trying to learn about her. You'll soon learn to differentiate the different cries so you'll know when she's hungry or uncomfortable as opposed to just feeling grizzly or in pain. Call me if you need me. I'm your nurse this morning."

"Thanks again" Hadrian said glad that the nurse from last night wasn't still looking after them. He fed Rose and burped her before gently waking Tim. "Tim time to wake up if you want to go home and shower before work" he said.

"Hadrian" Tim said blearily. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine Tim. Rosie is fine too she's just had a bottle" Hadrian said.

Tim reached out and took the baby.

"Rosie?" He asked amused.

Hadrian shrugged. "It feels right. Rose is too grown up and serious a name for such a little person."

"Rosie. I like it" Tim agreed. "It sounds vaguely Irish."

"I don't mind that if you don't. She's more Welsh than Irish on my side though."

"She's going to look Irish if she inherits your eyes" Tim said.

"You're going to be late for work" Hadrian warned him.

Tim gave Rosie back reluctantly. "I'll be back as soon as I finish work" he promised picking up the portkey.

-o0o-

"Is the baby wells?" Tollie asked as soon as Tim portkeyed into the front hall stumbling a little.

"Sorry Tollie we should have sent you the news. Hadrian and Rosie are both doing well. They'll be home later tonight" Tim replied sheepishly.

"'Tis alrights. Master Teddy be's too littles to understands. Best to tells him when Master Hadrian and Missie Baby Rosie comes home" Tollie replied.

Tim noticed that Tollie seemed to mangle her English even more when highly emotional. "Do you want to help Hadrian look after the baby or should we have looked for another nanny elf?" Tim asked wondering if she was worried about the work.

"It would be nice to have some helps but I want to look after the baby too ifs I cans" Tollie replied.

"You will have help. Hadrian wants to look after Teddy and Rosie himself as much as he can" Tim reassured her. "We can get another Nanny elf to help you when Hadrian returns to work or school. Please tell us if you need more help before this. You're a member of our family too. We want you to be happy and have enough work to satisfy you without tiring you out trying to do it all"

"Yes sirs" Tollie said so happy she was nearly in tears.

"Remember that we want you to have time to play with the children and do things you enjoy as well" Tim said.

"Tollie enjoys looking after babies and Master Teddy too" Tollie said nodding emphatically.

"That's good Tollie, Give Teddy a kiss and a hug from Hadrian and I when he wakes up. I've got to get ready for work."

-o0o-

"You look happy McGee. Did you get good news?" Ziva asked. 

Tony took one look at the dopey grin Tim was trying to hide and started teasing. "Ho ho McSleepy here's got himself laid. Tell us about the lucky lady." He knew that Tim didn't want his sexuality revealed outside their team. 

"There's no lucky lady Tony" Tim replied sighing. 

"We'll you were up all night doing something good" Tony replied. "Or have you geeked out completely and spent all night playing Elflord? Maybe it's time to stage an intervention?" he teased. 

"Tony lay off" Tim said tiredly. 

"Is it serious?" Tony asked eagerly. "Are we looking at the next potential Mrs McGeek?" He was concerned about his friend after the boss had let him go home early the day before and was hoping to frustrate the younger agent into telling him what was going on. 

Tim just growled and tried to get on with his work. Pretty soon he'd found a possible lead and he and Gibbs headed out to check it out." 

"What's going on with you today? Tony's right that you look lit up inside about something?" Gibbs asked pushing the emergency stop button on the elevator. 

Tim gave a huge grin and pulled a picture up on his phone. "Tony was kind of right. There's a new special girl in my life" he said handing his phone over to Gibbs. 

Gibbs looked at him in disapproval for half a moment before dropping his eyes to the screen.

"What?" He exclaimed shocked. 

Tim wished for a minute that he could snap a photo of the expression on Gibbs' face. "This is our daughter Rosie" he said. "She was born last night so I didn't get much sleep." 

"You're entitled to a week's leave" Gibbs replied. 

"I spoke HR this morning. I start leave tomorrow when she comes home from hospital. Dorney is going to TAD for you for a week." 

"I knew you were thinking about adopting again or hiring a surrogate but I didn't think it could happen this quickly" Gibbs said. 

"We got lucky" Tim agreed, not able to tell his muggle boss that Rosie was their biological daughter.

"Hades said he'd love you to come and visit one night next week. Maybe come for dinner though I can't promise it won't be takeout." 

Gibbs grinned. "I remember those days. I'd be honoured to come and meet your daughter but tell Hadrian not to go to any trouble for me."

"Are you going to tell Tony and Ziva?" Gibbs asked. 

"And Abby?" Tim said wincing. "I guess I'm going to have to. I think I can handle DiNozzo and David's reactions but can I have some back up to deal with Scuito?"

Gibbs took note of the fact that McGee was still referring to his team mates by their last names, something that had started the day they laughed at his wedding announcement and refused to take him seriously. The relationship between McGee and DiNozzo had improved just before the wedding but had soured again after Tim was attacked by the dog.

"You should tell them today before someone tells them you've gone on paternity leave" Gibbs said.

"They probably won't believe me any more than when I tried to invite them to the wedding" Tim replied.

"You should have given them the invitations" Gibbs said.

"After they laughed at the idea of anyone wanting to marry me I didn't want them there" Tim said bluntly. "Not to mention what Hades would have said to them."

Gibbs shuddered. He liked Tim's husband, and he was an easy-going man most of the time, but he had to admit the young man could frighten even him when he lost his temper. He didn't know what Hadrian had done for the British Secret Service, the level of classification on his work had shocked him, but Gibbs could easily believe he could've been an assassin. There was no question he would protect Tim and their family with everything he had.

-o0o-

"Is it safe to portkey with a baby? What if we fall on her?" Tim asked anxiously.

"That's what I got the baby carrier for" Hadrian said strapping her in snugly against his chest and casting multiple cushioning charms on her and the carrier. Tim picked up the bags and they activated the portkey travelling home safely.

They sat on the couch looking at each other wondering what to do next. The nurses had given them a lesson on what to do and they'd been looking after their daughter for the last 24 hours in the hospital but suddenly in their own home it seemed a bit daunting even though Rosie had settled quickly enough after the portkey and was now happily sleeping in Tim's arms.

"I'll go get Teddy" Hadrian said. He left the room then called Tollie "Master Hadrian is home. Where be the baby?" Tollie asked.

"In the lounge with Tim. Where's Teddy?" Hadrian asked. "I want him to meet her."

"Master Teddy be's in his big playroom. I gets?" Tollie said.

"No I'll go to him" Hadrian replied. He walked into the old ballroom and softly called Teddy's name.

"Hawwy" Teddy yelled running across the room and hugging his legs.

Hadrian lifted him up and Teddy frowned. "Where your tummy baby?" He asked.

"The baby was getting big enough to be born so the healers took her out" Hadrian explained. "Come and meet your sister."

He carried Teddy into the lounge and sat with him next to Tim. " this is your sister Rosie. Rosie this is your big brother Teddy."

Teddy reached out to touch the baby.

"Do you want to hold her, give her a cuddle? Rosie likes cuddles" Tim asked.

Hadrian readjusted Teddy on his lap so he could help hold the baby and Tim placed her in his arms.

"We need to be very gentle with Rosie. She's very little" Hadrian said.

"Too wittle to play" Teddy said.

"Yes, she's too little to okay but she'll soon grow up" Tim said chuckling.

"Big enuff tomorrow?" Teddy asked.

Hadrian laughed. "No not tomorrow. Probably not until after your birthday in the summer, you'll have to be patient. Babies take a long time to grow."

"I go play. Hawwy play with me?" Teddy said losing interest in the baby.

"You go play with him. I've got this" Tim said taking the baby back.

"If you put her back in the carrier you could probably write or use the computer with her on your chest" Hadrian said. "Of course that nurse would tell us we should put her in her crib. Do you want one of the elves to bring the crib down here so you can have her beside you?"

"I guess we should at least try the crib, can you cast a gentle warming charm on the blankets?" Tim suggested.

"I'll ask Tollie, I'm afraid of hurting her" Hadrian replied.

The warming charm cast, Tim laid Rosie down in her bed and wrapped her up the way they'd been shown. It was somewhat successful this time she slept for twenty minutes before she started fussing. Tollie popped in and cast another warming charm and she settled down. Half an hour later though she was awake and crying.

"She not be wet or hungry or cold or in pain. She just be wanting cuddles" Tollie told them. Hadrian picked her up and rocked her gently talking to her showing her around Tim's study and the lounge area. Rosie listened enraptured.

-o0o-

As the days passed, Rosie's habits were established. Cuddled up to a person she would lie fascinated listening while they talked or sleep peacefully, but alone in her crib she required warming charms to even settle for half an hour. In desperation Hadrian cast alert charms to wake them if she stopped breathing and they began sleeping with her in either Tim's or his arms each night, so they could all get some sleep.

-o0o-

A/N: Thank you to Almonda, julschristine975, Kourtney Uzu Yato, lilly-flower15, charm13insomnia, SpiritBlackPaw, Locket1, Dedicated4reading, Gracie15Trowa, Guest, xDarklightx, DS2010, Firehedgehog, ElysiumPhoenix, serenityselena, Karen19, DarkRavie, Sakya (Guest), Rori Potter, .9, buterflypuss, mayawene, acherongoddess, Selenity84, lgbtlovechick, icyquest4, Gottahavemyncis, Silvermane1, Je Jay Jay, Afrodity, PercyJacksonROCKS4ever, Magouille, Kris (Guest), hufflepuffsfavoritedeatheater, jayswing96, Amethyst-Pheonix2003, tygressangel, Deathtimecome, 20, KittyKat3201, BookLover120, GhostWriter2545, DaughterOfTheSea1 **,** InsertUniqueName, lauraburle, fightingforme, blackkat818, Nesareli88, Kittengal2000, Evegner, bitethepagan, Catwoman2518, Raven Servathen and yamabuchi for your support.


	40. Chapter 40

Chapter 40

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or NCIS or any of their characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do NOT give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

-o0o-

Tim had also gone down to autopsy to share his news with Ducky and Jimmy before leaving for his leave.

"Heavens Timothy are you all right my dear boy. You look exhausted" Ducky asked concerned.

"I'm fine Ducky. Our daughter was born last night so we didn't get much sleep. I'm on leave from 1800 tonight so I'll be fine" Tim said smiling.

"A baby girl how wonderful!" Ducky exclaimed. "I trust everything went well."

"She's perfect Ducky" Tim said pulling up the pictures on his phone. "I can send them to your email so you can see them better" he offered.

"Thank you Timothy" Ducky said gratefully. His eyesight was very good for his age but that didn't mean he wouldn't appreciate having the pictures to examine carefully later. "Oh she's beautiful!"

"Congratulations Tim" Jimmy said enthusiastically. "Is she a good baby?"

"It's a bit too soon to say" Tim said grinning. "She eats well, every three hours, sleeps when she wants to and likes to be cuddled. She didn't like being left alone in her crib."

"She'll need to learn to sleep in her bed" Ducky said.

"Any hints on how to make her want to learn that Ducky?" Tim asked.

"No I'm sorry I don't, though I do remember a time when I was in Egypt and my supervisor's wife had recently had a baby…"

"I'm sorry Ducky but I have to go and pick up Rosie from the hospital, Hadrian's waiting for me" Tim interrupted.

"I'll look forward to meeting your little one" Ducky said.

"I'm off all next week so feel free to visit one night if you have time" Tim said making sure Jimmy knew he was included in that invitation.

"Does Tuesday suit you. About five. I won't stay long"

"Tuesday's great Ducky. Come for dinner. Gibbs is coming Monday."

"Oh I couldn't impose" Ducky protested.

"We do have help around the house" Tim said quietly.

"An elf?" Ducky asked even more quietly.

"Several" Tim confirmed. "I'm not sure how many. Other than Tollie they prefer not to be seen."

"They are very rare here in America. Even in Britain only the oldest families have elves" Ducky commented.

"Yeah well Hades is the head of more than one ancient and most noble house" Tim reminded him. "I think he told me he owns over a hundred elves but most of them work maintaining and developing his rental properties in Britain though he doesn't act like it. Hadrian used to look after us himself when we were in the flat, he still likes to do most of the cooking and spend as much time as he can with the kids."

"So that's how the house in Boston was renovated for the wedding so quickly" Ducky said nodding in understanding. "I'd wondered why anyone would have only those rooms wired for electricity."

"Yeah and they did our new house too. It was a total wreck when Hadrian bought it, you'd barely recognise the place. It would have cost millions to fix if we'd had to pay tradesmen. I've got to go. I'll see you Tuesday night Ducky" Tim replied. "See ya Jimmy" he called out to the younger man who'd been sent in to clean the equipment they'd used on their most recent guest.

"See ya Tim" Jimmy called back cheerfully. "Good luck!"

-o0o-

Gibbs arrived around six with a large pink teddy bear for the baby in one arm and a toy truck for Teddy Lupin Black in the other. He'd thought about bringing something for the new father's as well but wasn't sure if it was appropriate, If Hadrian had been a woman he would have bought flowers, but he wasn't sure that Tim and Hadrian wouldn't be insulted by that. He drove up to the house wondering how it had been turned into units and how much access to the yard Tim and Hadrian had and whether they had a responsibility for the upkeep. He found himself nodding his approval of the tight security. He might not feel the need to lock his own house but Tim had a family to protect and Hadrian was an agent as well. The walled garden gave Teddy plenty of safe places to play though the trees near the wall were a bit of a security risk. He'd mention it to Tim. Walking up to the house he couldn't see any indication it had been divided into units, perhaps there were only two and the other had its own entrance.

"Come on in" Tim greeted him.

"This is a pretty fancy house" Gibbs said looking around the foyer assessingly.

"This is really the only fancy part, the rest of the house is much less formal than the house in Boston. Of course, it's much bigger than we really need at the moment but Hadrian liked the garden and the privacy of not having close neighbours" Tim replied showing Gibbs into the lounge room where Hadrian was sitting on the floor with the baby in his lap playing blocks with Teddy.

"So the whole house is yours then?" Gibbs asked. "I thought it might have been broken up into flats or townhouses."

"Yeah I know my address at work suggests that" Tim replied blushing slightly at having been caught in the deception. "I thought it better that nobody gets too suspicious that I'm living at an address that I really couldn't afford."

Gibbs nodded. "None of their business" he agreed. "The team is going to want you to host Christmas next year once they see this place though."

Tim laughed a little bitterly.

"We'd be happy to host Christmas if everything's going well with the team by then" Hadrian said. "Hello Gibbs. Please excuse me for not getting up."

"You're looking well" Gibbs said.

"I am well, though I could do with a little more sleep."

"You having trouble settling her?" Gibbs asked.

"She's taken a dislike to sleeping in her crib. I think it's partly that she gets cold on her own but she's also very social. When she's awake she'll happily watch people talking for hours."

"This is for Rosie and this is for Teddy" Gibbs said handing the teddy bear to Tim "You didn't have to" Tim protested. "Teddy, Agent Gibbs has a present for you. Can you come and say hello."

Teddy came over. "Hello Agen Gibbs" he said holding his hands out for the present.

"Hello Teddy" Gibbs said smiling at the little boy. "Do you like being a big brother to Rosie?"

"Rosie too wittle to play" Teddy said disappointedly. He ripped open the paper and cheered when he saw the toy truck.

"What do you say?" Hadrian reminded him gently.

"Thank you Agen Gibbs" Teddy said smiling sweetly.

"You're welcome Teddy" Gibbs replied.

"Would you like a hold?" Hadrian offered once Teddy was busy playing with his new truck.

"Please" Gibbs replied and Tim walked over to take the baby so Hadrian could get up.

"I think someone needs a nappy change before we give her to Gibbs" he said leaving the room.

"He seems happy" Gibbs said.

"Tim adores her, and she loves to listen to him talk. He talks to her or reads to her for hours" Hadrian said smiling. "Would you like a drink? Coffee, juice, bourbon?"

"Not if I'm about to get a cuddle" Gibbs replied.

"Are you staying for dinner, there's plenty" Hadrian offered. "I made lasagne, well eat as soon as Rosie goes back to sleep, she's due a nap."

"I'd love to stay but you shouldn't have gone to so much trouble" Gibbs accepted.

"It was no trouble, I enjoy cooking" Hadrian reassured him.

"Does it concern you that Tim hasn't told the rest of his team about you or the baby?" Gibbs asked.

Hadrian looked surprised. "Not really" he said sincerely. "I have met them all, though Ziva doesn't know I'm Tim's significant other and Abby probably wouldn't remember meeting me at all."

It was Gibbs turn to be surprised, though he was a little shocked that Hadrian recognised that in his expression.

"Ziva and I have done a few cooking classes together. She's aware that Tim and I are friends but not more than that. Abby I met briefly one night while I was rescuing Tim from one of her favourite clubs" he explained. "I didn't exactly look myself at the time."

"I noticed that Tim didn't look surprised when Tony complained loudly about how she and her friends treated him while they were out clubbing New Year's Eve" Gibbs said.

"I'm sure Tim complained the first time too and nobody listened, or maybe the first time after they finished dating. The night I rescued him she was totally ignoring Tim by the time I got there and she doesn't even seem to notice that her friends look down on him for not dressing like a circus freak" Hadrian replied. "Then when Tim complained that his friends ignore him she told him that it was his fault for not trying harder to fit in."

"I saw the outfit she bought him for Christmas" Gibbs commented.

"And the sad thing is I bet she didn't realise what a lousy present it was" Hadrian commented. "Tim looked as hot as hell in those clothes but I could never see him wanting to wear them out in public. He was embarrassed enough trying them on in our bedroom with just me looking at him. To answer your question Gibbs. I don't care if he never tells Abby, and it's not as if he's never tried. She's the one who keeps calling him a liar. If I had my way he'd be working in a team that doesn't treat him the way Abby and sometimes Tony does. Believe me his silence is protecting them from me just as much as it protects Tim and I from their derision."

Tim came back down and handed the now sweet smelling baby to his boss. He looked down at her glad that in she looked nothing like Kelly. "Hello there" he said smiling as he saw the little girl open her eyes and try to look at him.

"I'm your Daddy Tim's Boss. I bet that's gonna be confusing having two Daddies but I'm sure you'll work it out. You're a clever girl aren't you? And a pretty girl. Your daddies are gonna be glad they both carry guns when the boys start coming around. You're going to break a lot of hearts little Rosie" Gibbs talked to the baby seeing what Hadrian meant when he said she was fascinated by being talked to.

"Don't go giving her ideas" Tim pretested laughingly. "I'm not ready to think about that."

"You need to stop talking to her if you want her to go to sleep so we can eat" Hadrian said. "She'll fight it for ages if you're talking. I think she's afraid she's going to miss something."

Gibbs laughed, "She does look like she understands every word" he agreed. He stopped talking and rocked gently and pretty soon Rose was asleep. He gave her up reluctantly for Hadrian to tuck her into bed.

"Tim's dishing up" Hadrian said pushing the bassinette into the dining room and then lifting Teddy into his booster seat to eat dinner and washed his hands with the warm face washer Tim had brought in with the meals.

Hadrian and Tim made sure to keep talking while they ate and Gibbs soon realised that Rosie started to stir every time they were quiet for more than a moment.

"Did you end up telling the team you were on paternity leave this week?" Gibbs asked Tim.

"No I was busy trying to solve the case, or at least do as much of the computer searches for it before I went on leave" Tim replied. They'd caught the guy and he'd confessed just before they left Friday night. "Who's TAD for you this week?" he asked forgetting that he'd been told.

"Dorneget" Gibbs said sounding unimpressed.

"Give him a chance, Boss. I know he's green but I think he's going to be a good agent" Tim replied. "He's got some pretty decent computer skills if you need to use him like that."

"You're changing the subject. You need to tell the team about Hadrian and Rosie. Particularly once you file the forms to add Rosie to your dependents. Abby has all our personnel files hacked to flag her when a change is made. I don't know how she didn't pick up on you adding Hadrian as your next of kin?"

"I added him while she was away a couple of years ago and then hacked her computer to delete the notification" Tim said bluntly. "I realised she and Tony had unauthorised access to my personnel information soon after I joined the team."

"And you don't have the team flagged the same way?" Gibbs asked.

"No Boss, I try to respect other people's privacy. I've also never broken into Tony's, Kate's or Ziva's apartments or private drawers to snoop through their stuff or steal their food" Tim replied firmly.

"They've never broken into my place" Gibbs commented.

"They wouldn't need to, you leave your door unlocked. That doesn't mean they haven't taken a curious wander through the house when they knew you weren't home. They would just have been more careful not to touch anything for fear you'd notice the finger prints in the dust" Tim replied.

Gibbs laughed then sobered. "Is that why you stopped leaving snacks in your drawer?"

"Yeah wasn't much point if they weren't going to be there when I needed them" Tim shrugged.

Gibbs didn't stay long after Teddy went to bed, seeing the two men were probably only staying up because he was there.

"I'll let you get some sleep before one of them wakes up again" he said.

"Thanks Boss" Tim said gratefully.

"Thanks for coming Gibbs" Hadrian said letting Tim walk him out.

-o0o-

"Ducky, welcome, come on in" Tim answered the door.

"Hello Timothy. How's life as a father?" Ducky asked.

"Pretty amazing Ducky" Tim replied grinning. "Though I am actually Teddy's father too. We legally adopted him a couple of months ago."

"It's different with a new baby" Ducky said wisely.

"Yeah" Tim agreed. "Not that I love her more than Teddy. I don't. It's just I feel so connected to her from the very first moment."

"That makes sense, she was your daughter from the moment you met her, I'd imagine you met Teddy quite a long time before you became his parent" Ducky said reassuringly.

Yeah" Tim nodded remembering his first meeting with Teddy. He'd known that the little boy was going to be living with them if he and Hadrian sorted things out and he agreed but he hadn't pictured himself as being anything other than Teddy's godfather's boyfriend at the time.

"They're through here. This is the room we use the most. It's a bit too big to be cosy but Teddy loves being in here and it makes it easier" Tim said leading the way into the former ballroom, now filled with comfortable couches, toys climbing equipment and room for a toddler to ride his tricycle or play ball.

"Oh my goodness. This is ideal. Especially in the winter" Ducky exclaimed looking around the bright and cheerful room. "I take it you've made the glass unbreakable?"

"Yes of course and the place is heated by magic so we don't have to light the fires" Hadrian said.

"What happened to his hair?" Ducky asked as he saw Teddy running about with sickly green hair. "Isn't there something that can get it out?"

Hadrian smiled. "Teddy's a metamorphmagus. The green is telling me he feels sick in the stomach. He got into the lolly jar and ate the lot. I have a stomach soother for him which I will give him when I put him to bed but he won't learn if I take away the consequences too quickly" he explained.

"Oh my goodness" Ducky exclaimed. "We didn't see any signs of it at the wedding."

"He was given suppression potions because there were people who aren't allowed to know about magic present" Hadrian said. "We try to do that as seldom as possible. He doesn't like them."

"But what if Jimmy had come with me?" Ducky asked.

"Tim would have called out that he was here and I would have taken Teddy upstairs and put him to bed. Tim and I both carry the suppression potions with us in case unexpected visitors turn up but if I gave him one today on top of all the lollies he'd probably be sick" Hadrian replied.

"Indeed! I remember the taste of potions from when I was a child. I must say I much prefer taking modern medicines even if they aren't quite as effective" Ducky agreed.

"Forgive me for saying this Doctor Mallard but potions wouldn't be as effective on you as they are on a witch or wizard. For me I find taking one dose of a cure and being perfectly well except for needing a sleep to replenish my magic is much better that suffering through an injury or illness no matter how bad the potions taste" Hadrian said hesitantly.

"Well they certainly healed up Timothy's bullet wounds quickly" Ducky said thoughtfully.

"They could have been even more effective if he hadn't had muggle treatments for the wound and follow up appointments to keep" Hadrian said. "We had to be careful not to make the doctors too suspicious."

"The dog bites are still quite a problem for Timothy though they don't seem to affect him too badly" Ducky said.

"The bite wounds are as people expect to see them, in fact there a permanent glamour applied over the arm so nobody notices that they healed without any scarring at all" Hadrian explained.

"Doesn't that drain his energy?" Ducky asked.

Hadrian nodded. "We tried transfiguration but transfiguring the muscles enough to look like that gave him a real loss of function so the slight magical drain from the glamour is the best option, short of moving to somewhere he'll never see anyone who knows he was bitten."

"Would you like him to move? To be transferred off Gibb's team?" Ducky asked perceptively.

"Not exactly. I'd like his team to be more supportive both in the field and back in general office relationships and I can't see it ever happening with the team he's on now" Hadrian said bluntly. "I wish I could. Tim doesn't want to transfer and that's all that matters. I'll support whatever decision he makes if that changes."

"You know he'd probably agree to a transfer to the London office if you wanted to return home?" Ducky asked.

"I don't. Want to return to London, that is" Hadrian replied. "I'm happy here with Tim and Teddy and Rosie. I like the anonymity." It was the first reference he'd made to his fame.

"I can understand that, hero worship can be hard to live with" Ducky said.

"Worse people think they own their heroes, have a right to tell them how they should live their lives and then turn on them when they don't behave the way they believe they should" Hadrian said tiredly.

"You mean that Britain would never accept a gay Boy-who-lived?" Ducky asked.

"Exactly! Or a stay at home Dad. They expect me to continue to be their saviour. To save them from every aspiring dark lord and problem. I just want to be me."

"Have you given up your job to stay home with the baby?" Ducky asked.

"I've taken leave, at least a year from when Teddy came to live with us. He was having a hard time adjusting to the mundane world and the loss of his grandmother, so I thought it best that one of us was with him instead of trying to find a magical day care."

"You don't have a nanny elf?" Ducky asked.

"We do and Tollie's been a godsend but I don't want my children brought up by elves. She's incredibly good with him but no matter how much we encourage it she can't bring herself to just sit down and play with him, and she won't let him pack up his own toys, unless I force the issue and I can see it distresses her. I don't want him to grow up being used to being waited on. And we need to expose him to the world I do want to put him in kindergarten next year."

"How is Teddy adjusting to having a baby in the house?"

"Pretty well, it doesn't seem to have set off any insecurities. He gets a little jealous when he has to wait for me to finish feeding or changing her to pay him attention but everybody assures me that that is normal", Hadrian replied.

"Dinner's ready" Tim called.

"I really don't want to impose" Ducky protested.

"Please stay. The elves cooked a traditional English/Scottish meal in your honour" Hadrian said. "They love having extra people to feed."

"So long as they haven't prepared a haggis" Ducky said laughing.

"No Roast beef and then 'spotted dick' and treacle tart" Tim said laughing as well.

Dinner conversation turned to local politics and events and Ducky took his leave soon after finishing eating. "I'll let you get these little people to bed."

"Night Ducky. Thanks for coming" Tim said smiling.

"Thank you for inviting me" Ducky replied.

-o0o-

Jimmy turned up on Thursday. "Hi I brought this for the baby. It's not much" he mumbled embarrassed.

"Thanks Jimmy. You didn't need to get us anything" Hadrian said. "Rosie's sleeping in the playroom. Come and have a peep."

"I don't want to wake her up" jimmy protested.

"You won't" Hadrian promised reassuringly. "She can sleep though anything so long as she's not on her own."

They walked into the playroom and Jimmy bit his lip to keep from laughing. Tim was stretched out on the couch sound asleep with the baby on his chest. Unfortunately, he must have been looking after Teddy who was painting and Tim, the baby and the blanket were covered with splotches of paint. Hadrian pulled out the camera and snapped a couple of pictures waking the older man.

"Wha?" Tim mumbled.

"You fell asleep and left Teddy in charge of the paints" Hadrian said laughing. Jimmy's here but I think you and Rosie need a shower."

Tim looked down at the sleeping baby whose hair was full of paint. "Is there anything in the paint that could hurt her?" He asked.

"It's washable and non-toxic but I wouldn't recommend letting her eat it at her age" Jimmy said calmly after looking at the box the paints had come in. "It shouldn't do her skin any harm that a little baby oil wouldn't fix."

"I'd offer you a cuddle but it would wreck your clothes" Tim said sitting up.

"Umm… Yeah… No thanks" Jimmy said awkwardly. "She keeping you up at night?"

"A little though I really have no excuse for not watching Teddy properly. I'm sorry Hades."

Hadrian gave a small laugh. "It's okay, no real harm done, I've done it too but usually Tollie was there to rescue Teddy when it happened."

"I gave her the afternoon off" Tim replied to the unspoken question.

Hadrian nodded, Tollie had caught a cold the day before and needed some rest. Not that she wanted to take it but Tim had ordered her to take whatever medicine worked on house elf colds and to sleep until she no longer felt tired.

"Is Tollie a nanny?" Jimmy asked.

"Sort of" Hadrian replied. "We're going to need the help when I go back to work and I thought it best for the children to have time to get used to her, besides as you can see we need the help."

"Perhaps once she's well you could let her look after the baby one night so you can catch up on your sleep" Jimmy suggested.

"Maybe" Tim said hesitantly. He was going to miss Rosie so much when he returned to work he wanted to spend every possible minute with her now."

"I'm going to go" Jimmy said. "Let you get cleaned up."

"Thanks for coming by Jimmy" Tim said smiling.

A/N: Thank you to charm13insomnia, buterflypuss, Darling De Piaget, Guest, acherongoddess, Almonda, lilly-flower15, Kourtney Uzu Yato, julschristine975, Rori Potter, Magouille, Bella216, ElysiumPhoenix, mayawene, .9, Lientjuhh, xDarklightx, Firehedgehog, Maben00, gabrieljuarezl, SpiritBlackPaw, PercyJacksonROCKS4ever, DS2010, DarkRavie, Gracie15Trowa, Merlenyn, Guest, asdf (Guest), Silvermane1, Hazel Moonlight, serenityselena, NickyNakoleT, DogDemon1888, SlySn4ke, vanesa, jazica, codefoxwolf, Ewicka, 14powellc, KlausLover16, Albus-piano-Dumbledore, Draph91, verysilly, slytherinprincess17, malone320, Books-A-Plenty, blackcat254, ImNoEinstein, salma99, bookMichael, thegossipgirl34, Destined DeathReaper, , Ionnithia, celise1020, Momo-19, Black-rabe, Jade Aislin, lys2fg, Crystal Rose1204, umbrasol, breakingfaith, aryavalentine4, Amber Dream **,** rhino0306, horselover2008, Swimming Nut, Squigees, sweetcookies82 and lucinda the mage for your support.

A/N2: Wishing everyone a merry Christmas or a happy holiday however they celebrate.


	41. Chapter 41

Chapter 41

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or NCIS or any of their characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do NOT give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

"Hey Tony" Tim greeted his friend as he walked into the bullpen after his week off. "Where is everyone?"

"You're late" Tony said.

"No I'm just not early! Where is everyone?" Tim asked again.

"Gibbs is up with the director and Ziva is in the evidence locker, double checking the inventory from our last case" Tony reported.

"Ouch! What did she misplace?" Tim asked sympathetically.

"Nothing permanently, but one of the pieces of evidence spent a couple of hours more than it should have in the safe in the truck" Tony replied. "Where'd you go for the week. I know you didn't have leave planned. Is everything okay?" he asked about halfway between curious and concerned.

"Paternity leave" Tim replied grinning. "Everything's wonderful except our darling little girl won't sleep in her own bed."

"Putting a bit of a crimp on the honeymoon, is she?" Tony teased.

"You could say that except we're both too tired to care at the moment" Tim said tiredly.

"So you have pictures?" Tony asked.

Tim unlocked his phone and stepped up beside Tony so he could control what his SFA looked at.

"She's cute" Tony said smiling. "What's her name?"

"Rosie. She's eight days old" Tim replied.

"Wow that's young! Is she's definitely yours to keep or is there a cooling off period on the adoption?" Tony asked.

"She's our daughter Tony. Nobody else has any claim to her" Tim said firmly.

"You used a surrogate and an egg donor?" Tony asked surprised. "That's how you knew about the prices a couple of months ago."

"Yeah" Tim lied. He'd looked up the process and prices so he could talk knowledgeably about it if he was asked.

"So how's it gonna work is Hadrian gonna become a stay home dad?" Tony asked.

"He already pretty much was. Teddy was having a hard time with separation anxiety when he came to us. His grandmother hasn't been well for quite some time and Teddy was used to being alone at home with her 24/7. He's getting better thank heavens but we expected that the baby might cause a bit of a relapse. He's coping fairly well though. We'll organise some day care so he can go back to work in a few months or so."

"You don't resent that he's the one to stay home with the baby?" Tony asked.

"Nor really. I miss her, you wouldn't believe how hard it was to leave this morning but I was glad to spend some time out in the real world. Hades is more likely to be jealous of me. Of course, it might be different when she's had us both up all night with her crying and Hades gets to roll over and go to sleep while I have to get up to come to work" Tim said good naturedly.

Tony laughed.

"What are you looking at?" Ziva asked as she and Abby entered their area of the bullpen.

"Tim's new baby" Tony said.

"She's not a babe she's a girlfriend, a grown woman who wouldn't appreciate being infantilised by someone she hasn't even met" Ziva scolded Tony.

"No she's a baby" Tony protested. "A real babe..."

"Chauvinist pig" Ziva interrupted.

Tony looked at Tim to defend him.

"Gear up, we've got a missing Navy dependent, six year old girl who disappeared from a shopping mall about half a mile from the base" Gibbs interrupted before Tim could say anything.

They grabbed their gear and hurried to the van knowing that with a missing child time was of the essence. The conversation with Tony and Ziva was forgotten by all of them as Tim carried out searches on his laptop while Tony drove. He was able to get some history on the missing child's family, schematics of the shopping centre and updates from the local Leos. Being a missing child they hadn't backed off to wait for NCIS but had immediately put up roadblocks around the area and instituted a search firstly of the shopping mall itself and then spreading out to all the public areas inside the roadblock area.

"The FBI are also on the way" Tim reported. "This is the third child reported missing in West Virginia this month."

"We don't need them" Tony growled. "Gibbs is going to be a bear about this."

"Gibbs will be a bear about missing children anyway" Ziva reminded him. "And the more people looking for the child the better."

"Please tell me at least that it's Fornell?" Tony begged.

"No child trafficking and the behavioural analysis unit. I've worked with Katie Cole in the past she's good" Tim reported.

"When?" Tony and Ziva demanded. Tim had come to the team as a fairly new probie. He wouldn't have been experienced enough to have been on a missing child case while at Norfolk.

She was one of the agents we liaised with, in the people trafficking case when you were on leave last year Tony"

The area was crawling with agents and local law enforcement and with a missing child on the line and every minute counting there was not the usual interagency pissing contest. The right to bring charges could be argued later once the little girl was found.

The BAU finally managed to interview the mother and as light was fading they identified a suspect. Tim and Tony were both in awe of how fast the profilers and their tech support could run down the lead. The little girl was found, probably heavily traumatised but alive and well. With time and therapy she would make a complete recovery. The locals arrested the perpetrators and arranged transport to Washington for NCIS to take over, for once quite happy to turn the case over since it would mean a longer sentence for the kidnappers. The teams involved decided to shelve the paperwork til morning, and got together to celebrate the victory.

Tim ducked out to ring Hades and talk to Teddy and Rosie. "Hey Tim. Is something wrong?"

"No we just rescued a child from a serial molester and murderer and I felt an overwhelming need to talk to the kids. Can you put me on speaker?"

"Sure let me go into the playroom with Teddy, Rosie's in her carrier so I could get some stuff done. She's awake" Hadrian replied.

"Hey baby girl, are you snuggled up all comfy? Have you had a good day?" Tim asked.

"She's listening" Hadrian said softly.

"Daddy's missed you today?" Tim continued. "I showed your picture to Tony and he thinks you're gorgeous. He's right isn't he beautiful girl."

"Hey Teddy, come and talk to Tim" Hadrian called. There was a noise of running feet and then Teddy spoke loudly.

"Tim. Where Tim?"

"He's on the phone Teddy" Hadrian replied.

"You come home today Tim?" Teddy said anxiously.

"Not tonight Teddy but I'll be home by the time you wake up in the morning" Tim promised.

"I can do better than that, there's an extra seat on the plane. We can have you home before your little ones go to bed" JJ Jareau offered having also been outside talking to her son and overhearing the very similar conversation.

"Thanks" Tim said gratefully, "Just let me clear it with my Boss."

"We're leaving for the airport in about ten minutes" JJ replied smiling going in to clear it with her own boss.

"Why don't I get a ride home?" Tony pouted when he heard JJ tell Hotch about the offer.

"Have you got small children at home?" JJ asked.

"No but I have a hot date tonight I'm gonna have to cancel" Tony replied giving JJ and Emily his best winning smile.

Emily and JJ rolled their eyes. "Sorry DiNozzo we've only got room for one of you and McGee's got the higher claim."

Tony turned to Tim. "You know Gibbs isn't going to like it" he warned.

"Gibbs will have to lump it then. The case is over and Teddy's feelings are more important than his" Tim said. "Have I got a minute to tell him?" he asked JJ.

"Sure" JJ replied. "Hotch is still finishing up with the local LEOs."

"JJ offered me the extra seat on the jet so I could get home to Rosie and Teddy tonight" Tim said nervously.

"Take it" Gibbs said gruffly.

"Thanks Boss" Tim replied grinning. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"And Tim, don't forget you belong to me. Don't let them headhunt you" Gibbs said seriously.

"I won't Boss. JJ heard me talking to the kids when she was outside ringing hers. That's all it is" Tim replied.

"That was nice of them" Gibbs replied sceptically.

Tim talked enthusiastically with the FBI agents grateful for the ride home. It soon became obvious that they were a tight knit unit with one exception. "Did you just join the unit?" Tim asked him, concerned he was being ostracised.

"No, I'm not with the BAU or CARD teams" Auror Thaddeus Billingsley replied without explaining where he worked or why he'd joined the team.

Tim looked at him suspiciously for a moment then leaned in. "Do you work with Agent Hadrian Black?" He asked quietly.

"I have done. How do you know Black?" Thaddeus replied.

"Was there one of yours involved in the kidnapping?" Tim asked.

"You didn't say how you knew Black" Thaddeus said wanting to know how much the other Agent was allowed to know about the magical world.

"I'm his husband" Tim said quietly.

"The missing child is a first generation" Thaddeus replied. "So, we needed to be sure that wasn't why she was kidnapped."

"Her parents wouldn't even know yet would they?" Tim asked.

"No, they haven't been officially told but that doesn't mean that they've never seen any accidental occurrences. Some parents are frightened by what they don't understand. Especially in the Bible Belt and small towns. We keep a close eye on accidental incidents in this area."

Tim nodded. "Would it be better to explain it to them earlier?" He asked wondering whether his parents would have been more accepting of him being a wizard if they had more time to get used to the idea.

Thaddeus shrugged. "In some cases," he agreed.

"Thanks for the ride. It sure is a nice plane" Tim said. "Tony would have spent half the trip home complaining that we don't have one."

"The plane just means we can travel farther for cases, we've been in California, Colorado and Missouri so far this month" Emily replied.

"Then I'm glad we don't have one" Tim said hastily making the BAU team laugh.

"I hope we didn't make trouble for you with your team. Where do you need to be?" JJ asked as they disembarked.

"I live out in Chevy Chase but near the station if you could drop me at the nearest Metro stop" Tim replied.

"What about your car?" Morgan asked.

"It's safe at the naval yard. It'd take nearly as long to get there as to get home. I'll train in to work tomorrow morning" Tim replied.

"I'll drop you and Spence at the Metro" JJ offered.

"You live a long way from Quantico" Spencer observed.

"Yeah but my team is based at the Naval Yard. It isn't that bad. It only takes about forty five minutes to drive to the Naval Yard. With the hours we keep it isn't worth catching public transport" Tim replied. "Hades has a longer commute if he has to be in the office but that's bot often and it's worth it to be out where we can have a yard for the kids."

"Is Hades your wife?" Spencer asked, wondering if it would be too intrusive to ask where the name came from.

"My husband" Tim replied. "He's on leave at the moment, our daughter's only nine days old and our son's nearly three."

"And that's accepted. That you have a husband and baby?" Spencer asked.

"The Navy is still pretty homophobic so I keep it quiet but my team doesn't have an issue with it" Tim replied, ignoring the fact that only half of them knew. "Your team seems a lot closer than mine is though. I almost envy that."

"They're pretty much my family. We spend so much time living in motels together out on cases that we really don't have many secrets" Spencer said smiling.

"Not having any secrets from Tony would be a nightmare" Tim replied shuddering.

"He picks on you?" Spencer asked concerned.

"It's not malicious, he just likes to tease and doesn't realise when he's taking it too far" Tim replied. "Gibbs rarely pulls him up on it and Ziva tends to oscillate between supporting him and threatening to kill him with a paperclip"

Spencer laughed then stopped at the sight of Tim's face. He looked at him questioningly.

"She's former Mossad. Her brother was an assassin and her father's the director. There were rumours that she was Kidon, I wouldn't hand her a paperclip while she was irritated" Tim explained.

"This is my stop" Spencer said apologetically.

"Nice to meet you Dr Reid" Tim said smiling.

"Nice to meet you too Agent McGee" Spencer replied. "Hopefully next time or won't be over a missing child."

Tim got off at the terminal, somewhere he was sure Hadrian had been and phoned to ask him if he could come and side-along aparate him home.

-o0o-

Tim was half right when he said he'd envy Hadrian the ability to stay home and Hadrian would envy him leaving the house to go to work. It wasn't just the extra half hour of sleep in the morning or the ability to take an afternoon nap. He missed the children. Rosie seemed to change slightly every day and Tim felt like he was missing so much. Hadrian on the other hand was missing the ability to just leave the house without feeling like he was planning a major excursion as well as adult discussions that didn't revolve around babies. Tim realised this and encouraged Hadrian to spend part of the weekend out doing something for himself while he and Tollie looked after the kids. Of course, when your parents plans often have to be changed or compromised at the last minute to meet the children's needs.

-o0o-

Ziva's eyes lit up as she walked into the Japanese cooking class and saw Hadrian there feeding a baby its bottle. "Hello" she said joining him. "You're going to find it difficult to cook like that."

"I'm hoping she'll settle once her tummy's full" Hadrian replied. "How have you been?"

"Good. What's her name, how old is she?" Ziva asked.

"This is Rosie and she's two weeks old" Hadrian said.

"Congratulations, she's a beautiful baby" Ziva said.

"Thank you."

"Why didn't you leave her with your partner?" Ziva asked.

"I was going to but he's taking Teddy out for the day and Teddy's feeling a little insecure since the baby came home so we decided he'd benefit from some one on one time" Hadrian explained. "I'd already paid for the course and decided to try to come anyway since I really needed some time thinking about something other than babies."

Class started and by the time they were beginning the practical segment, Rose was happily settled in her pram leaving Hadrian free to concentrate on cooking.

"That's the same ring Tim has" Ziva said suspiciously.

"Yes" Hadrian replied, not offering any further information.

"Is it Tim's ring?" Ziva demanded.

"No, they're a matching pair. They've been in my family for a long time" Hadrian said.

"Why would you and Tim wear matching rings" Ziva said confused. "Tim would have told us if he was dating a man."

Hadrian's eyes flashed dangerously. "Tim told you about our wedding. He even had the invitations for you all in his pocket ready to hand out until you all laughed at him and called him a liar" he said angrily. "Don't you dare blame Tim for not telling you about me."

"He really was getting married? He must have been so hurt that we didn't believe him." Ziva said horrified, remembering the day they'd all laughed about it. Thinking back she realised that Tim had been quieter and much less friendly since that day.

"Gibbs, Ducky and Jimmy came to the wedding, and Tony came to Tim's buck's night. You can ask them if you don't believe me" Hadrian retorted.

"I believe you" Ziva said hastily. "I just can't believe how badly we treated Tim. He was our friend, he didn't deserve for us to call him a liar. He really was going to invite us to the wedding?"

"Yeah he had invitations for you, Tony and Abby. He brought them home and burned them. I had to convince him to even try to invite Ducky and Jimmy after what happened. It was laughing at him that hurt the most" Hadrian said quietly.

"How can I make it up to him?" Ziva asked.

"I don't know that you can. At the moment, he doesn't trust you not to hurt him like that again" Hadrian said bluntly. "Not going along with Abby's and Tony's abuse would help though."

"Tim and Abby are friends" Ziva protested. "And Tony goes too far sometimes but he's just teasing."

"Abuse is in the eye of the beholder, Ziva. There's a fine line between teasing and bullying and Tony frequently crosses it" Hadrian agued. "And Tim was always Abby's friend more than she was his friend. Friends are interested in what the other is interested in. When was the last time that they went out somewhere Tim wanted to go? Abby says she's his best friend but open your eyes and look how she really treats him. She abuses Tim's friendship and manipulates him to do what she wants and when that doesn't work threatens to make trouble with Gibbs"

"Yes you're right" Ziva said thoughtfully. "She uses being Gibbs' favourite to get what she wants with me and Tony too. I wasn't aware it was as bad for Tim though, they seem to get going"

"You mean get along" Hadrian replied. "And they only get along when Tim's doing what Abby wants him to do."

"You don't like her? Are you jealous of their friendship?" Ziva asked.

Hadrian laughed, "I have no reason to be jealous" he denied. "I just don't like to see Tim being used like that."

"I'm sure Abby doesn't mean to hurt Tim" Ziva said. "You know they did have a romantic relationship once?"

"She doesn't make a practice of considering his feelings either. To Abby Tim is a play toy she thinks she can do whatever she likes with and he'll keep bouncing back for more no matter how selfish she is or how much she hurts him" Hadrian retorted. "Tim's tired of being treated like that but Gibbs punished him last time he upset her. And yes, I know they used to date."

"Tony's been teasing Tim about a new girlfriend lately and he hasn't been denying it" Ziva said hesitantly.

"A new girlfriend called Rose or Rosie?" Hadrian asked amused.

"Yes! How do you know?" Ziva asked.

Hadrian just pointed to the baby. "Meet Rosie, the new lady in Tim's life."

Ziva laughed. "Wait does Gibbs know about Rosie?"

"Yeah he came over for dinner one night while Tim was on paternity leave. Why?" Hadrian asked.

"The first time Tim mentioned Rosie, Gibbs seemed angry with him but since then he looks away and ignores it" Ziva said.

"He made the wrong assumption just as you did before he found out Rosie was a baby. Gibbs came to our wedding he was probably upset with Tim that either he hadn't been told we were over or Tim was cheating on his husband" Hadrian replied.

"Are you and Gibbs friendly?" Ziva asked awkwardly.

"Friendly?" Hadrian asked.

"I mean does he visit often, have you got to know him?" Ziva asked.

"Not very well but we met when Tim was shot last year" Hadrian answered. "He pretty much interrogated me about my intentions and threatened to harm me if I deliberately hurt Tim. Like I said he came to the wedding and he came for dinner one night last week to meet Rosie."

Ziva laughed. "He gave you the brother speech?"

"I think you mean the big brother talk but yeah he did" Hadrian confirmed. "It was kind of awkward but I was pleased that Tim's team leader had his back. It gave me confidence that he was supported out in the field."

"It can't be easy knowing that his job is dangerous but really it's not as dangerous as you think" Ziva tried to reassure him.

"I know. My job is often more dangerous than Tim's but I'm used to being in control of the risks to myself and my team. Not being able to even know when Tim is at risk and having to wait until he comes home at night is harder than I expected it would be" Hadrian replied. "It didn't help that the last two times he's been injured nobody called me."

"If you give me your phone numbers I'll make sure I call you if he's injured again, or anything else that he'll need your support for" Ziva offered sincerely.

Hadrian looked at her searchingly before agreeing and giving her the numbers before they both turned their attention to the class laughing with each other over trying to understand the teacher's accent and their attempts at learning to roll sushi.

-o0o-

Ziva arrived at work Monday morning with a large, elaborately wrapped pink present which she put on her desk until Tim arrived.

"What's that for?" Tony asked curiously.

"It's a gift for Tim's daughter" Ziva replied.

"So he's finally told you, and you believe him now?" Tony said.

"Actually Tim didn't tell me. Hadrian was at my cooking class this week and I recognised his ring. He had little Rosie with him" Ziva replied.

"Tim did tell you about the wedding, and I told you and Gibbs told you. You refused to believe us" Tony retorted.

"I know and I will apologise to Tim for my behaviour when he comes in" Ziva said soberly.

Once Tim had arrived and settled at his desk waiting for the computer to boot she approached him. "Congratulations Tim. I met Rosie on the weekend and she's a beautiful little girl" she said sincerely. "I'm more sorry than I can express that we disbelieved you when you told us about your marriage. Our actions must have hurt you and I for one really never intended to hurt you like that. I hope one day that I can earn your trust and we can be friends again"

"Thank you Ziva" Tim replied more touched by the sincerity of her apology than the fact she'd bought his daughter a gift.

"Well open it" Tony urged impatiently.

Tim looks across at Gibbs walking in with his coffee. "Let's see what Rosie got Tim and then we can all concentrate on our work."

"Thanks Boss" Tim opened the box and found a baby swing.

"Hadrian said she doesn't like the lack of stimulation in her crib. I hope she will like this and give the two of you a bit of a break sometimes. It has a very good safety rating" Ziva said handing over the article she'd found comparing baby swings.

"Thanks Ziva, that's really thoughtful" Tim said smiling. "We should have thought of something like that." He glanced at the article and saw Ziva had bought the one with the best safety reviews, it was quite an expensive gift and he felt a little guilty about it considering how well off Hadrian was compared to Ziva who lived alone and spent most of her savings each year returning home for her holidays.

A/N: Thank you to Locket1, Maben00, DS2010, Kourtney Uzu Yato, Firehedgehog, julschristine975, DarkRavie, Silvermane1, buterflypuss, Rori Potter, mother oracle, acherongoddess, icyquest4, xDarklightx, serenityselena, charm13insomnia, lilly-flower15, Lientjuhh, mayawene, lia (Guest), Almonda, Readerholic90, Gracie15Trowa, DevilishAngel666, asdf (Guest), .9, PercyJacksonROCKS4ever, Darling De Piaget, Kris (Guest), Syla07, ashleymariestel, niesha-16, 1, Soul D Phoenix, Camilla-K-09, shannon. , LadySaphire, blackphoenix4ever, light-hunter1999, scanrp, Sorrow7e, Lil-love-neko, ShayyRenee and Gaia Emma Brorhaist for your support.


	42. Chapter 42

Chapter 42

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or NCIS or any of their characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do NOT give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

-o0o-

Tim arrived home and set up the swing in the play room. "What's that?" Teddy asked.

"It's a baby swing for your sister" Tim replied. "Ziva gave it to me this morning with an apology for not believing me."

"I saw her at cooking on Saturday, she recognised our rings" Hadrian explained. "I didn't want to tell you in case she chose not to say anything. You never can tell the way she's going to react."

"She seemed sincere in her apology" Tim said.

"She was actually quite upset when she realised that you'd been telling the truth about the wedding and that you'd been hurt by everyone's reaction" Hadrian said.

"I take it you told her of the problem with Rosie sleeping in her crib" Tim said gesturing to the swing.

"Yes well she doesn't like the pram an better than the crib unless it's moving quite quickly" Hadrian replied frowning.

"Was she disruptive during your class? You said it went quite well" Tim said.

"She wasn't too much trouble. I cuddled her during the demonstration and then when she wouldn't settle in the pram, Ziva helped me put the harness on backwards so she could snuggle into my back as I cooked" Hadrian explained. "It's quite comfortable that way though Rosie prefers to be on the front where we can talk to her."

Tim laughed. "She's going to be a real little chatterbox once she gets talking isn't she."

"She's probably going to talk quite early too, with the way she listens to everyone" Hadrian said.

"Ziva thought the movement of the swing might help her settle for a little longer" Tim said. "She's bought the safest one on the market so we can leave her in it without being right next to her."

"I hope it works" Hadrian said yawning. "It would be nice to at least be able to go to the loo without having to listen to her screaming and shower when I feel like it. Speaking of shower, I don't want to dump her on you as soon as you walk in the door but…"

"Give her here" Tim said getting up and taking Rosie out of the harness.

Hadrian quickly unhooked the harness and fastened it on Tim expertly adjusting the fit as he did. "I'll see you soon."

"Take your time. Rosie and I are going to catch up. I miss her during the day, she seems to grow and change a little every time I'm gone."

Hadrian smiled and went upstairs to shower and shave coming back down half an hour later feeling refreshed and more sociable. He was pleased to notice his ability to physically respond to stimulation was returning to normal as the hormones from the pregnancy left his system. He figured that Tim would be pleased as well if they could manage some time on their own. Hopefully the swing would work, if not perhaps Tollie would be okay with sitting and cuddling Rosie for an hour or two after Teddy was sleeping.

-o0o-

"The swing didn't work?" He asked dismayed, walking into the playroom and finding Tim sitting on the floor playing trucks with Teddy with Rosie in her harness on his front.

"I haven't tried it" Tim replied. "Rosie and I are having fun playing with Teddy."

Hadrian grinned and sat down with them. "Dinner will be another half hour. I let the elves cook tonight so I hope you're hungry." The elves had been persuaded after much discussion (and threats by Hadrian to cook every meal if they didn't agree) to cook low fat healthier meals but they still had difficulty not cooking way too much for two adults and a toddler. Hadrian had a sneaking suspicion it was an attempt to stop him from cooking if there were always leftovers in the kitchen but since it distressed the elves if they ate the same thing for three or four nights as well it wasn't keeping them happy. Perhaps their previous masters had had appetites the size of Ron Weasley's.

Tim laughed. "I'll take the leftovers for everyone for lunch tomorrow if they can be microwaved" he offered.

"That'll only encourage them to cook more" Hadrian warned laughing. "It's a pity that we cant have them give it to a soup kitchen or something."

"I can just imagine their reaction though if food kept suddenly arriving, particularly if someone actually saw it appear out of nowhere or they had security cameras" Tim said laughing. "I could deliver things though on my way to work some mornings."

"That's a great idea. The elves put things under stasis charms so you could deliver all the leftovers once a week" Hadrian said. "I'll look around the local churches and see if there's a soup kitchen that isn't too far out of your way."

"Thanks" Tim replied.

"Dinner is ready's master" he said popping away quickly.

"Thank you" Hadrian said to the empty air knowing that the elves would hear him if he intended them to.

Hadrian took Rosie while Tim carried in the baby swing and checked it was properly set up. They put her in and set it going before sitting down to their first unhurried meal since Rosie had been born.

"It works" Hadrian breathed quietly afraid to jinx it.

"Yeah it does while we're talking" Tim agreed. "I wonder if it will work if we leave her in it in her room.

"Can we leave her in it for hours though? Is it safe?"

"The literature says it's okay for a couple of hours, the same as her capsule because. The real problem is that she is refusing to spend any time lying flat on her back or her tummy" Tim replied.

"She lies on her back between us at night and she spent some time on her tummy this morning but I had to lie down with her on my stomach and talk to her to keep her from screaming" Hadrian said.

"Does that count?" Tim asked.

"I think it would, as soon as she can she will want to lift her head to watch us talk" Hadrian replied.

"Do you think if she's happy in her swing we could let Tollie look after her for a while after Teddy's asleep for the night?" Hadrian asked.

"I'm sure she'd be happy to. You want some time alone?" Tim asked.

"Alone with you" Hadrian said pointedly.

"Are you sure you're healed. I don't want to hurt you" Tim replied slightly anxiously.

"I was fully healed before I left the hospital" Hadrian stated firmly. "If you don't want to then…"

"I do want to" Tim said eagerly. "I just didn't want to push you until you were ready."

"I'm more than ready" Hadrian reassured him eagerly. "It's just hard to be in the mood when I know Rosie's crying in the other room because we're not with her."

Tim nodded. "Or with her there watching us" he agreed.

Hadrian shuddered. "We've got to get her to sleep in her own bed" he stated. "As much as I like having her cuddled up with us I'm missing being with you."

-o0o-

Of course, Tollie was happy to help and made grabby hands for the baby as soon as Hadrian asked. He laughed as he handed her over. "She liked the swing so if she won't settle in bed and needs to sleep, try that. You'll need to buckle the harness, not that I think she'll be able to wiggle enough to slide out yet but it's best to be safe.

"I'se will takes good care of Miss Rosie. Don't you worry Master Hadrian" Tollie said calmly. "I'se has been lookings after babyses since before you were a baby."

"I know you will Tollie" Hadrian agreed. "Knock on the door if you need us."

"I'se will Master Hadrian" Tollie replied reassuringly though she was determined not to need to interrupt them if she could possibly avoid it.

Tim watched from the doorway well aware how hard giving the baby into Tollie's care was for his husband. It wasn't that he had any doubts that the baby would be kept warm, clean and fed. It was just that the little elf considered Rosie to be a duty instead of someone to love and cherish.

Hadrian looked up and saw him watching. "I'm okay" he said softly as he joined him.

Tim brought his hand up to cup Hadrian's cheek. "I know you are" he said kissing him lightly. "She'll be fine!"

Hadrian led him into the bedroom and cast a one way silencing charm so they could still hear if Teddy woke up or someone approached the door.

"Did you buy protection? I know we haven't really talked about more children but I don't want to risk you falling pregnant again so quickly" Tim asked.

"I know Kingsley and Sir Geoffrey are going to pressure us to try again for a boy as soon as possible but I want to wait at least a year before trying again" Hadrian replied. "That is if you want another child." It was almost a question.

Tim nodded. "I do eventually. It's your body. You should wait until you feel ready" he agreed.

"I bought condoms while I was out today. You would not believe the dirty looks I got. I think I'm going to patronise the other chemist from now on" Hadrian said laughing slightly.

"Did you have Rosie with you?" Tim asked. "They probably thought you were pressuring the baby's mother into having sex. Non magical births take a lot longer to recover from. I've heard that it's normal not to resume sex until after the mother and baby's six week check up. Rosie still looks a lot younger than that."

Hadrian nodded. "I'm still going to the other chemist though."

Tim laughed commiserating at his husbands embarrassment. "We could go in together next time I have a day off" he offered. "Have you had much trouble from people who know you're in a gay relationship seeing you with a baby?"

"Not really since we already have Teddy. Most of the people in this area who know I'm with you have seen us out as a family and got used to it already" Hadrian replied. "I did receive a lot of female interest from women I haven't seen before, being out by myself with a baby though" he added amused.

Tim laughed and pulled Hadrian in close kissing him passionately. "Did you tell then you're mine?" he asked teasingly.

Hadrian responded enthusiastically to the kiss and started unbuttoning Tim's shirt. "I told them I was happily married" he confirmed.

Tim stepped back a little, kicking off his shoes and pulled Hadrian's sweater and T-shirt over his head before pulling him into another kiss. He felt Hadrian's arousal pressing against his and smiled dropping to his knees. Hurriedly unfastening his husband's belt and jeans he mouthed him through his boxers before carefully lifting the waistband over the already leaking member and pushing them out of the way as he swallowed him whole.

Hadrian groaned loudly clenching his fists at his side to stop himself from grabbing Tim's hair and fucking Tim's mouth. "Stop stop I don't want to come like this. I want to be inside you" he gasped.

Tim drew back slowly giving the tip one last lick and leaned back grinning up at his lover.

"I can't wait" he said, helping Hadrian to step out of his jeans and boxers before standing up and stripping off his own.

Hadrian moved over to the bed, ripping off the quilts and throwing them to the floor on the other side before rummaging through the bedside table for the lube. He carefully began to prepare Tim, well aware that it had been months since their wedding rituals which was the last time his body had let him top. He added a third finger and Tim began to beg.

"Please Hades, I need you now. Please. Fuck. Please" he babbled.

"Shh I will" Hadrian said removing his fingers and gently working his way in. He stopped to catch his breath and give Tim time to adjust. "You feel so perfect. So tight." he moaned.

"Please move" Tim begged arching his back.

Hadrian leaned down to kiss along Tim's jaw and began to rock his hips gently wanting it to last. "Gods I've missed this" he murmured.

"Yes" Tim moaned, Hadrian wasn't sure if he was agreeing to what he'd said or if he'd just managed to hit his prostate perfectly. He sped up his thrusts reducing his husband to incoherence.

They cuddled up together almost dozing in the afterglow.

"Should we go and check if Tollie need us to take Rosie?" Tim asked.

Hadrian took down the silencing charm and immediately they heard their little girl crying. "I'll go get her" he said getting up and pulling on a pair of pyjama pants.

He arrived in the nursery to find Rosie crying in her crib. "She be sleeping on her swing chair until about twenty minutes then she be's being fed and nappy'd. She just being naughty now not sleeping in her crib. There's being nothing wrongs with her" Tollie reported.

"Is she warm enough?" Hadrian asked picking Rosie up and cuddling her. "Perhaps she's just lonely."

Rosie started to settle but she'd been upset for a while so it took some time.

"She's be warm enough and not too warm. She's just be a spoilt baby" Tollie replied.

"I don't believe you can spoil a baby with love and attention" Hadrian replied. "They deserve as much love as they want. When she's bigger then she'll need to learn that she can't have everything she wants but she's too little for now and she needs to sleep."

"Yes Master Hadrian" Tollie replied obediently. Tollie was used to working for traditional pureblood parents who left her to look after their children while they continued with their work and normal social engagements. Hadrian and Tim who wanted to spend every spare minute with her baby baffled her a bit and she was worried about how spoilt the baby would be. They baby would never settle into her care if they came and cuddled her every time she cried and it made her feel like she wasn't doing her job properly.

Hadrian didn't notice her insecurity as he happily carried Rosie back to bed with him and Tim.

-o0o-

This established a pattern, every night after Teddy went to sleep Tollie spent a couple of hours anxiously trying to prevent Rosie from crying while Tim and Hadrian had some time to focus on their relationship, when they made love or just spent some time cuddled up talking and kissing depending on how tired they each were. Tollie soon learnt that talking to the baby did help but all her previous owners had wanted her to avoid talking to their children as much as possible because they didn't want the children learning to speak like a house elf. In the past Tollie had been punished when the child under her care had spoken broken English like an elf and had tried to learn to speak more like a human only to be punished for that as well when her owners had heard her do so. So she was worried but Tim and Hadrian had always been very lenient masters who had never punished any elf under their employ so she pushed down her anxiety to do the best she could to look after Rosie and Teddy the way her masters wanted her to.

-o0o-

TIMESKIP

-o0o-

Ducky was determined to have everyone come to his Fourth of July barbecue. He wanted to try to fix the rifts in his work family before their problems tore them apart. He'd been worried about the team since December when the rift had formed over their reactions to Tim announcing his wedding. Over time Tim seemed to have mended bridges with Tony and Ziva but seemed to be making no attempt to repair his friendship with Abby. Tony and Jethro also seemed more standoffish with the forensic scientist, and Abby wasn't reacting well to no longer being treated as a favourite child by Jethro.

At times he thought it odd that he, Jimmy and Abby had always been so much a part of Jethro's team and not the other three teams that worked at headquarters, in his case (and Jimmy's by default) it was probably due to his longstanding relationship with Jethro from the days when Mike Franks' team was the only one at the naval yard. In Abby's case it was more that Jethro was the only one to support her non-professional behaviour and even that support had declined over the last year.

There was some resistance to the idea of a team party but they were on call the Saturday of the weekend so nobody had plans to go anywhere and nobody wanted to upset the elderly medical examiner by declining his invitation when he was so enthusiastic, so everyone agreed to go.

-o0o-

Tim and Hadrian were deliberately the last to arrive though Tim had been over earlier to drop off the highchair, booster seat, porta cot and playpen as well as their contributions to the meal. Tim took note of the cars as they pulled up.

"Everyone's here. You ready for this?" he said. Each carrying a child they knocked on the door.

"Ready as we'll ever be" Hadrian replied.

"Timothy, Hadrian. Happy fourth of July! Welcome to my home" Ducky greeted them.

"Hi again Ducky" Tim said laughing.

"Hello Ducky" Teddy said grinning. "Me come to party."

"So you did Teddy and I'm glad to see you" Ducky said to Teddy before turning to his parents. "Oh dear! I doubt this is going to be the sort of party he's expecting, I hope he won't be too bored."

"We brought things for him to do and he'll have a new yard to explore even if we don't see anything special about it in terms of play areas he'll find something to interest him" Hadrian said reassuringly.

"And this little poppet has grown so much. Do you have a cuddle for Ducky?" he said reaching out his hands invitingly.

Rosie happily went to him listening to him talk, they headed towards the dining room and kitchen where everyone was gathered.

"Do you know everyone?" Ducky asked the young couple.

"Yes Ducky" Hadrian replied politely to the older man. "I know who everyone is."

"Well I don't know you. What are you doing here? This is a family occasion, you're not supposed to bring a date McGee" Abby said crossly.

"Ducky invited us" Hadrian said prepared to step back and leave if the others felt that way too.

"Of course he did, we can't expect Tim to come to a family dinner without his family" Ziva said. "How are you Hadrian, and this must be your older child Teddy you've told me about. What did you make to bring for dinner? Do you need someone to get it from the car since you had your hands full?"

"Hello Ziva" Hadrian said smiling. "I made Vietnamese salad and a chocolate tart. Tim dropped them off with all the other stuff we'd need for a peaceful dinner and afternoon out."

"You still haven't told me who you are" Abby huffed frustrated at being ignored.

"Hadrian McGee. Tim's husband" Hadrian said choosing to use Tim's name so she would have more trouble searching for him. He also resolved to be careful not to leave fingerprints or DNA on things she could collect. There was a spell that would prevent that. He didn't hold his hand out to shake.

"Tim's What!?" Abby screeched.

"Abs" Gibbs barked reprimandingly. "How are you coping with two children Hadrian? Rosie and Teddy look well."

"We are well, thanks Gibbs" Hadrian replied taking care to smile not smirk at Abby being controlled by Gibbs so effortlessly.

"When do you return to work?" Gibbs asked.

"Straight after Labour Day" Hadrian replied.

"There's a pretty good day care at the Navy Yard" Gibbs said.

"There's a pretty good day care at Quantico too and I'll work less hours than Tim does a lot of the time" Hadrian said. "Though I'm also looking onto hiring a nanny. It's not so easy to find one who has the experience with children, is willing to work on our schedule and meets all the security clearance requirements.

"The travel from your place to Quantico will be a bitch though" Tony said.

"Less than an hour most days given I won't be driving in peak hour" Hadrian said.

"What hours will you work?"

"1000hrs to 1600hrs when I'm not on assignment, I can often work from home a couple of days a week as well" Hadrian replied.

"And when you're on assignment?"

"I'm away for up to a month at a time. That's why I think hiring a nanny might be the best option. Someone who's willing to be flexible enough to help Tim out in the evenings when I'm away and he has a case, in return for extra time off when I'm home." It was true they were looking for a human nanny to help Tollie out at least part time, to have a human face to do the kinder drop off and pick up, but given it had to be someone who knew about magic as well as passing stringent background checks it was proving difficult to find someone.

"Will Teddy go to kindergarten this year?" Jimmy asked.

"He's right on that borderline where he could go or I could easily get an exemption for him to start next year. I'm not mad about the idea of him being the youngest in the class but I thought we'd send him and see how it goes. Developmentally he's independent enough with most things but he's still a little shy with other children" Tim replied.

"He's come out of his shell wonderfully since we met him at Christmas" Ducky said looking at the little boy happily chattering with Tony, showing him the toy trucks he'd brought to play with.

Tim and Hadrian both smiled. "Is there anything I can do to help with lunch Ducky?" Hadrian asked.

"Oh dear! I suppose we better get a move on with the dishing up. Everything should be ready. You sit and rest I'll have Abby and Ziva help me today." He went to pass the baby back to Hadrian but was intercepted by Gibbs, and shepherded the protesting forensic scientist into the kitchen.

"Abby, we are having a friendly peaceful dinner. Tim is right I did invite Hadrian, Teddy and Rosie. They are part of this family too now" Ducky said.

"No they're not Ducky. They aren't part of my family they're strangers. I don't want them here ruining our dinner. We won't be able to talk freely with outsiders here" Abby whined.

"They are Tim's family, and my guests. Hadrian is in law enforcement too he understands the demands of the job and his clearance is high enough for anything we would talk about" Ducky tried to reassure his young friend.

"I think you will like Hadrian once you get to know him. He and Tim are good for one another" Ziva stated. "And it will be good for us all not to be able to talk store."

"I think you mean shop, Ziva" Ducky corrected gently.

"Shop, store aren't they the same thing?" Ziva asked.

"Yes they generally are, but we use the term talk shop to mean to talk about work" Ducky explained.

"Haven't you been in America long enough to learn English yet" Abby snapped.

"English is the hardest language to learn and I do speak it fairly well, it's just the odd sayings that only exist in your language that trip me up" Ziva said frowning.

"Abby, I understand that you're upset with Tim but there's no need to be taking your mood out on Ziva. I expect you to be polite to the guests in my home" Ducky stated sternly. "All the guests" he added when it looked like she was going to argue.

A/N: Thank you to Kourtney Uzu Yato, sifshadowheart, Lientjuhh, Locket1, notsofrilly, lilly-flower15, Ace Trainer Jessie, icyquest4, PercyJacksonROCKS4ever, cldiva, Rori Potter, xDarklightx, DarkRavie, julschristine975, Almonda, Silvermane1, serenityselena, buterflypuss, DS2010, Firehedgehog, Selenity84, gabrieljuarezl, acherongoddess, Afrodity, Gracie15Trowa, afaineant, charm13insomnia, Village-Mystic , NicholasFlamelFan, Kris (Guest), Kaorilamb, fluffyluv2read, Islandmare, shal1979, , Ultima435, dobbys-stinger, nico2883, Badass Nightcore, loonygoody, Alyssa1432, Conan02, softballaddict11, kei-kanna-chan, , Jackanapes, maikko, Makkachi, Caredka, delnor, PrismFanatic, Faren12321 and lizira for your support.


	43. Chapter 43

Chapter 43

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or NCIS or any of their characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do NOT give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

"My turn" Gibbs said grinning as he cuddled the baby girl and Ducky left to organise the serving of the meal. It caused him a few pangs as he was reminded of the days when Kelly was this age and he and Shannon were so happy but he was pleased that at least one of his team was able to have a stable family life. He wanted to show all the support he could while Tim and Hadrian worked things out with Abby. Of course, it also didn't hurt that the baby was truly adorable in her own right.

Tim and Hadrian chattered with Jimmy while keeping an eye on their children playing with the other members of the team until Ducky called them all to come to the table. Tim scooped up Teddy and plonked him on his booster seat while Hadrian helped Gibbs strap Rosie into the child swing.

"I must say Ziva that I can't thank you enough for this swing, it's been a real godsend" Hadrian said to his friend.

"Is she still not sleeping in her crib?" Ziva asked concerned.

"She's started to but not when there are things going on like now" Hadrian replied.

Abby pouted to hear that everyone else really had known Hadrian and the children. She felt left out and she didn't like it. This was her family, she should be involved in what's going on. She waited for them to realise how upset she was and was surprised when even her Silver Fox either didn't notice or ignored her feelings.

The feeling around the table was slightly awkward, nobody could actually miss the fact that Abby was unhappy with the situation but most of them didn't want to confront her about it at the table and ruin the lunch Ducky had put so much effort into organising and worked hard to make up for the atmosphere inadvertently going overboard to seem cheerful and make Hadrian and the children feel welcome.

Rosie happily sat in her swing with Tim and Hadrian paying attention to her each time she babbled. Teddy sat on his booster seat between Gibbs and his Papa and obediently ate his dinner without complaint, Ducky told stories of past picnics with his family in England and his first experiences of the fourth of July. Tony talked about movies that included the holiday, not that Hadrian had seen most of them. After dinner Jimmy and Ziva insisted on helping Ducky with the clean-up while the others headed outside to enjoy the fine weather. Rosie was passed around Tony taking a brief hold before handing the baby over to Tim, finding Teddy more interesting. Teddy tried to get Tony and Hadrian to chase him around the garden which they did until Tony collapsed panting on the steps. Gibbs frowned slightly at his SFA's shortness of breath and Ducky looked anxious but nobody said anything. Hadrian scooped up Teddy tickling him before hanging him upside down swinging him around from the ankles. Teddy shrieked with laughter and Tim passed Rosie off to Ducky and went to join his husband and son.

Ducky held the little girl so he could look into her face while he continued talking.

"Rosie loves listening to people talk. Ducky's finally found someone who will listen to his stories for hours. It's a perfect match" Tim joked watching the M.E. interact with his daughter as he returned to the back porch.

"He certainly seems besotted and she's hanging on every word" Ziva agreed.

Abby huffed and pouted glaring at Tim. She kept starting to speak before changing her mind and clamming up, sometimes as a result of pointed looks from Gibbs and Ducky.

Finally, Tim had enough and decided to confront her. Hopefully she would calm down after she said whatever it was she felt she needed to say. He got up and moved away from the others not wanting the children to hear her tantrum.

"You married a man McGee! You never told me you were interested in men" Abby said affronted.

"My sex life hasn't been any of your business for years now Abby. I stopped telling you about my relationships a long time ago because you throw jealous fits and I've never understood why. You don't want to date me. You broke up with me. Said I was too boring and vanilla" Tim said. "What's the real issue?"

"And why does everyone else already know him McGee?" Abby demanded.

"Abby if you'd been more reasonable when I told you about getting married you would've met him six months ago when everyone else did" Tim replied exasperated. "You accused me of lying to you to get out of taking you to that stupid concert that I'd already told you several times I had no intention of going to. I don't like the music. I don't like the band, or the venue. Your friends don't like me and I don't enjoy going out with them and I told you after the last time that I wasn't going again. I didn't need an excuse not to go to the concert and you should've known me better than to accuse me of lying."

"You always give in come to concerts with me in the end Timmy. I knew you would change your mind" Abby said.

"That's not the point. Abby, is that really what you want to argue about?" Tim replied. "You seriously only cared about my wedding because it meant that I couldn't drive you to the concert?"

"You never made any effort to fit in with my friends" Abby argued.

"Your so-called friends never made the effort of even basic politeness" Tim replied, "And neither did you, you'd abandon me as soon as we met up with them and only notice me again when you wanted me to drive you to the next location. I have better things to do with my evenings than that."

"And how was I supposed to know that you were seeing someone if you didn't tell me?" Abby demanded. "If he was that important to you I could have got him an extra ticket."

"Abby we weren't even here in DC. We were at Hadrian's family home just outside Boston. Massachusetts is the closest location where gay marriage is legal" Tim replied. "And don't tell me you still don't believe me about the wedding, Gibbs, Ducky and Jimmy were there for heaven's sake. I know they told you about it."

"I thought we were friends McGee? Friends don't keep secrets like this from each other" Abby said pouting.

"Friends don't turn on each other like you turned on Tim either" Hadrian said walking in.

"Stay out of it I'm talking to McGee" Abby snapped.

"If you think I'm just going to sit here and let you abuse my husband, you're out of your mind" Hadrian said evenly. "You may not have heard of me but I've heard plenty about the way you've treated Tim over the years and I have to say I'm astounded that you could still think that you're still friends after all that. But you're not a real friend, are you? Real friends care about their friends wellbeing and interests and want what's best for their friends. You only claim to be Tim's friend when it's in your own interests."

"I am his friend"

"Tim's been injured twice since I met him. All the rest of the team visited to check on him, or offer to help him out until he could look after himself again. You didn't know about me, you thought he was alone and yet you never came. You didn't even ring him until he was well enough to be of use to you again" Hadrian said.

"You don't know anything" Abby refuted.

"I've been living with Tim nearly three years. Whom do you think he talks to when he's had a bad day" Hadrian said dryly.

"He's never mentioned you" Abby said dismissively.

"Which should upset you more than it worries me" Hadrian replied grinning nastily. "Ask yourself exactly why Tim didn't feel comfortable telling you about his personal life. Why he felt the need to protect our relationship from you and your influence. Tony and Gibbs don't tell you about their girlfriends either, do they? You say this is a family and I'd agree your team often reminds me quite a lot of my family but since I think the whole lot of them should've ended up in prison for the way they treated me after my parents died that is not a good thing. I walked away the day I turned seventeen and haven't seen any of them since. One day Tim's and everyone else is going to have had enough of the way you treat them and do the same. Tim's already stopped wanting to spend any more time with you than he absolutely has to and even Gibbs and Tony have been helping to prevent him from having to go down your lab."

Tim wrapped his arms around his husband. "They've never been that bad" he reassured him.

"Abby's behaviour is frequently abusive" Hadrian said.

"Yes, but it's not systematic like your relatives' abuse was, there were some good times too" Tim said softly.

"That's ridiculous. I've never abused anyone" Abby protested furiously.

"Hadrian's right Abby, your behaviour to Tim often borders on abuse" Ducky said quietly. "That's why we've all spent the last six months trying to ensure he did not have to be alone with you unless he chose to be."

"Ducky how could you say that" Abby exclaimed.

"It's the truth dear. You treat Tim very badly and trade on being Jethro's favourite child to manipulate everybody but you're not a child. It's time to grow up" Ducky said gently.

Abby turned to Hadrian furiously making him take a step back and Tim move to a position he could grab her before she reached Hadrian if she tried to attack him physically. "Where do you get off trying to turn my family against me" she yelled. "You don't even know me! I'm a good person!"

"I know you do good work for habitat for humanity but it takes more than grand gestures every now and again to be a good person" Hadrian retorted. "I learned a long time ago that you can fight for the light and still be a horrible person. You're possessive, petty and manipulative, you blackmail everyone around you with the threat of horrible behaviour or Gibbs wrath if they upset you and you enjoy watching other people be punished for your actions. You act like a spoilt teenager who's never had to be responsible for the consequences of their actions. You expect your friends to be interested in what you are but never take the time to get to know or share their interests. You're totally self-centred and narcissistic Abby Scuito and if you don't get help then you'll end up with everybody call friends realising that you don't care about them and leaving you all alone."

Hadrian took Tim's hand and led him back to the others. They collected their children, thanked Ducky for having them and made their way to the car, Tony and Gibbs following with the children's equipment while Ziva collected their dishes from the kitchen.

-o0o-

Abby looked around at all her friends taking Tim and his husbands side, helping them pack up their things and leave and threw back her head and yelled in sheer frustration, stamping her feet when she was totally ignored. She had underestimated the soundproof effects of Ducky's double glazing. She stormed into the house collecting her things without saying goodbye to her host and brushed past Tony, Ziva and Gibbs as they re-entered the house. Moments later they heard the roar of her roadster as she tore down the street.

Ducky looked a little annoyed but quickly put her out of his mind as Ziva handed him a fresh cup of tea and they returned outside to enjoy the beautiful afternoon in harmony.

Ducky persuaded them to stay for dinner and help him eat some of the leftovers and then they watched a movie on Ducky's large screen television then Jimmy and Ziva helped finish the cleaning up while Tony and Gibbs returned the furniture to its normal positions before taking their leave, thanking Ducky for the party.

-o0o-

Abby arrived to work early next morning and set up the pilfered wine glasses from Ducky's party in the fume chamber to raise the fingerprints. She wanted to know who this man masquerading as Tim's husband was. There had to be something wrong with him. He had corrupted her Timmy. She watched as the superglue vaporised and did it's job, taking the resulting prints and running them through Codas.

Abby screamed in frustration when all the prints came back to Tim, Ducky and Ziva, nobody else.

"What's wrong Abs?" Gibbs asked walking in. He noticed that the glass wear being tested looked a lot like the ones they'd used the day before. "What's going on Abs?"

"This guy came out of nowhere Gibbs. Nobody knows anything about him" Abby pouted. "You can't say you didn't want him investigated too."

"He's an FBI consultant" Gibbs replied. "I could have told you that without you misusing agency resources."

"How do you know he's who he says he is?" Abby demanded.

"We worked a case together a couple of years ago" Gibbs said frowning. He'd been pissed off when he realised that Lord Evander and Hadrian Black were the same person but given that he also knew that the man's real name was Harry Potter he figured that the deception probably wasn't aimed at him. "He and Tim have been together for years and you never even cared enough to ask if he was seeing someone, or believe him when he told you so why the big concern now Abs?"

"Why aren't you concerned? Timmy wasn't gay and this guy suddenly appears out of nowhere and all of a sudden Tim marries him without giving any of us time to check him out" Abby retorted.

"Ducky and I both met Hadrian when Tim was injured before he and Tim became engaged and I did check him out. He's legit Abs. Tobias has known him for years" Gibbs replied. "And if you didn't know Tim was living with someone why didn't you visit him after he was shot and make sure he didn't need assistance with shopping, cooking or just to help him out getting to appointments? No wonder Hadrian thinks you're not a very good friend."

"Gibbs I was busy" Abby protested.

"Too busy to help Tim out when he needed a friend and he never complained but as soon as he wasn't available to go to a concert you wanted him to drive you to you through a massive it, accused him of lying and being a lousy friend and insulted him about it for months" Gibbs said bluntly.

"I gave him chances to make it up to me" Abby argued. "It's not my fault he didn't fix this."

"It wasn't his problem to fix Abs" Gibbs replied. "You needed to apologise to him but even now you know you were wrong I didn't hear an apology in all that yelling at him you did yesterday."

"What! But Gibbs…" Abby began only to be interrupted.

"You owe Tim an apology and while you're at it you owe Ducky an apology for your behaviour yesterday too. Ducky invited us all for lunch to clear the air and get our team back to a more amiable working relationship."

"But Gibbs there are no fingerprints" Abby said.

"looks like there are plenty of fingerprints to me Abs" Gibbs replied looking over the glassware. "I hope you're willing to replace those glasses you've ruined."

"Yes of course there were prints but none of the fingerprints were his" Abby explained.

"Then maybe you stole the wrong glasses" Gibbs replied.

"I didn't steal them and I'm sure these were Tim and Hadrian's glasses" Abby declared.

"I'm sure they are Ducky's good antique glasses that you took without his permission and destroyed by using superglue to take the prints instead of just using fingerprint dust on the scene. Now I expect you to march right down to autopsy, admit your theft to Ducky, apologise for that and your behaviour yesterday and ask where you can find replacements for the glasses you've destroyed" Gibbs said angrily before leaving the lab.

Abby stamped her foot in frustration but once she'd calmed down a bit the sight of the expensive glassware did make her feel a little guilty. She put them in her office out of sight and turned her attention to the evidence she should have been processing for Balboa's team.

Hours later she got a call from Gibbs. "Hey Gibbs what can I do for you?" she asked cheerfully.

"Ducky's still waiting for that apology" Gibbs said bluntly then disconnected without waiting for a reply.

Abby shamefacedly took herself down to autopsy.

"Hey Abby" Jimmy greeted her.

"I need to talk to Ducky privately" Abby replied.

"Okay then I'll just go and ask Dr Mallard if it's okay for me to take my lunch break early" Jimmy replied walking over and knocking on the office door.

"What is it Mr Palmer?" Ducky called out.

"Abby's here and wants to talk to you alone so I wondered if I might go to lunch early. I've already restocked the truck" Jimmy said nervously. He wanted to be as far from the fiery tempered forensic scientist as possible.

"Thank you Mr Palmer. Enjoy your lunch" Ducky replied getting up. "What can I do for you Abby?" he asked.

"I came to apologise Ducky" Abby said wringing her hands. "I took Tim's husband's glass to fingerprint it."

"Why on earth would you do such a thing?" Ducky asked.

"I wanted to know who he really was" Abby replied.

"Hadrian is Timothy's husband. You had no right to investigate him without Tim's permission" Ducky said angrily.

"I'm sorry Ducky but he's turning Tim against his friends I was worried about him" Abby said crocodile tears glistening in her eyes.

"He is not. It is your own behaviour that has upset Timothy and driven a wedge between you" Ducky retorted. "Bring the glasses back and put them on the desk for me to take home. It's an old set of my grandmother's I'd hate to lose one."

"I used superglue to raise the prints" Abby confessed.

"Then you need to very carefully wash the glasses in acetone to get it all off and then wash and polish them properly and hope they aren't damaged because you will find it very difficult to locate replacements" Ducky said severely, making it clear that he fully expected his glasses returned to him in the pristine condition they'd been in yesterday. He quickly wrote down and handed her the details of the glass wear brand and design.

"Now I believe you have work to do on the samples I sent up this morning."

Deprived of fingerprints Abby attempted to search for Hadrian by name, hindered by the fact that he hadn't given her his real surname. Still Gibbs had said that he worked for the FBI so she hacked their personnel records inadvertently setting off their alarms and spent the rest of the afternoon fighting off their counter attack.

Balboa came in several times looking for results on the trace evidence found at the crime scene and on his murder victim. Frustrated by the delay and annoyed because she wouldn't even turn and talk to him to explain what was going on he complained to Gibbs.

"What's going on Abs? Balboa's team is waiting on the trace to give them a lead on their multiple homicide" he asked.

"I can't leave this Gibbs they're trying to hack me and they're really good" Abby said still frantically typing.

Gibbs rang McGee. "Abby's being hacked. Need you down here" he barked.

"On the way Boss" Tim replied hurrying to the stairs. He arrived and quickly assessed the situation before starting to help. It took him a few minutes to get it shut down.

"That was a back hack. Who were you trying to hack and what information did you need? I might be able to find another way around. What did you try?" Tim asked.

"It doesn't matter it wasn't that important" Abby replied.

"Well if it wasn't important, perhaps you should get to Balboa's evidence which could be very important. They're out of leads and need you to work your magic Abbs" Gibbs ordered. His gut said that whatever she'd been trying to hack into wasn't related a case but trying to dig up more information on Hadrian Abby's not wanting Tim's help seemed to confirm it.

Later in the day four FBI agents arrived for an urgent meeting with the director. After they left the director visited cybercrimes before calling McGee up to her office.

"The FBI reported that someone from NCIS tried to hack into their personnel files today. Do you know anything about it?" The director asked watching him closely for micro-expressions of guilt. "We have no current open cases that would warrant looking into the FBI."

Tim flushed furiously. "Gibbs called me down to help Abby fight off a cyber-attack this morning. Once we'd shut it down I did what I always do and started looking for the origin of the hack and how they might have got through our fire wall. The contact was initiated by Abby and what I thought was an attack was their defences trying to do what I was, looking for who originated the hack." he replied angrily. "I can guess what she was looking for."

"Which case was it related to?" the director asked frowning.

"I might be wrong but I don't think it was related to a case. Abby met my spouse at Ducky's party yesterday and took an immediate dislike to them. Ducky told me she stole a couple of glasses from him and tried to run fingerprints. When that didn't work she probably tried to look at their personnel file."

The director didn't miss the careful absence of gender specific pronouns but decided to let that slide for the moment. "They work for the FBI?" she asked.

"Consult mostly but they're an agent they can pull in to help out when they're busy too. Seconded from the British Secret Service" Tim replied.

"Thank you Agent McGee" the director said, clearly dismissing him. "Please keep this to yourself for the time being."

"Yes Director" Tim replied taking his leave. Tim smirked slightly as he descended the steps, he'd never thought that could be vindictive until he got engaged to Hadrian and his family and friends reacted so badly but it was going to be good to see Abby get in trouble for harassing him.

Abby looked worried as she headed for the elevator to meet with the director. She'd been surprised that Tim had recognised the cyber-attack they'd fought off as being a back hack originating from her computer and she was a little concerned how long it had taken to fight them off, she doubted they'd got into her encrypted files but they may have got far enough to identify her IP address. And if they did find out that she was trying to hack their personnel files she was sure they'd come asking why. She hadn't heard of a commotion and Gibbs hadn't been down to warn her but if Tim knew she was hacking the personnel files would he have reported her, would he have realised she was trying to check up on Hadrian, his so-called husband.

A/N: Thank you to Kourtney Uzu Yato, sifshadowheart, Lientjuhh, Locket1, notsofrilly, lilly-flower15, Ace Trainer Jessie, icyquest4, PercyJacksonROCKS4ever, cldiva, Rori Potter, xDarklightx, DarkRavie, julschristine975, Almonda, Silvermane1, serenityselena, buterflypuss, DS2010, Firehedgehog, Selenity84, gabrieljuarezl, acherongoddess, Afrodity, Gracie15Trowa, afaineant, charm13insomnia, Village-Mystic , NicholasFlamelFan, Kris (Guest), Kaorilamb, fluffyluv2read, Islandmare, shal1979, , Ultima435, dobbys-stinger, nico2883, Badass Nightcore, loonygoody, Alyssa1432, Conan02, Pewterdragon, AlexCurtis, softballaddict11, kei-kanna-chan, , Jackanapes, maikko, Makkachi, Caredka, delnor, PrismFanatic, Faren12321, CrazyPedantic and lizira for your support.


	44. Chapter 44

Chapter 44

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or NCIS or any of their characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do NOT give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

Jenny Sheppard reluctantly contacted the FBI Agents that were investigating NCIS's hacking of their personnel files. She hated having to admit that one of her staff was responsible for attacking the computer system of another agency, particularly the personnel files. This couldn't even be passed off as part of a legitimate investigation.

"I have confirmed that the hacker was Ms Abigail Scuito and we believe she was attempting to gain information on NCIS Special Agent McGee's spouse" Jenny reported.

There was a moment's delay with the sound of typing. "I can confirm that we do have an agent that lists SA McGee as his next of kin" the agent confirmed. "I will notify him of the attempted breech. I he chooses to take action against Ms Scuito or your agency I will be in touch." The call disconnected without any of the usual pleasantries.

Jenny frowned at the lack of respect shown her as the head of a fellow Agency. As the director of the smallest of the alphabet soup she had to fight hard for the respect she felt she was entitled to. Looking for more information she opened Special Agent Timothy McGee's personnel file and scanned though it. She was surprised to see that not only were his parents not listed as contacts, but Tim claimed two dependent children and listed his emergency contact, primary medical proxy and next of kin as Hadrian Black, with contact details including a phone number she recognised the first half as Quantico indicating it was an extension there.

The phone rang while she was contemplating this an external call on her direct line.

"Director Sheppard" she answered briskly.

"Unit Chief Clancy FBI" a deep south accent introduced himself. "We've spoken to the Agent involved. The breech will be investigated before a decision will be made on charges. We will be there first thing in the morning to interview Ms Scuito."

"Ms Scuito has been suspended pending the results of your investigation" Jenny replied. "I'm about to inform her of that fact. Unless of course you wish me to keep her here until after you have questioned her tomorrow. Please give my humblest apologies to Agent Black, and let him know that abuse of a fellow agent's privacy and security like this will not be tolerated."

"I'm pleased to hear that" UC Clancy replied sounding more friendly. "No need to delay her suspension, we'll keep track of her. SSA Black has authorised me to send you his basic details. I'll email it to you now."

'It will be interesting to see if she runs' UC Clancy thought.

"Thank you" Jenny replied. She looked up the heavily redacted file reading the details she was allowed. He was a handsome man though she was a little concerned that McGee had entered a relationship with someone that looked so much younger than he was. Still it was evident from the files that he wasn't anywhere near as young as he looked. And that he was a highly competent agent so she put aside her concerns for now.

-o0o-

Jenny's secretary activated the intercom interrupting her train of thought. "Ms Scuito is here Ma'am."

"Send her in" Jenny ordered.

"You wanted to see me?" Abby asked, trying to sound calm.

"Ms Scuito, I spent the afternoon trying to defend the fact that one of NCIS's technicians attempted to hack into the FBI's personnel files. I found that very difficult to do without prior knowledge of the case you were working on. It's protocol to document actions like this in advance and the justification for breeching a fellow agencies security along with the warrant details. A warrant that I shouldn't need to remind you needs to be obtained from a judge before you attempt to look at their files" Jenny said severely. "Now I trust that you followed these protocols and can hand me a copy of that warrant?"

"No ma'am" Abby replied.

"You attempted to hack into the FBI without a warrant?" Jenny clarified. "And did it so obtusely that you were caught within minutes of the breech and they were able to back track to catch you. We have a whole cyber crimes division, any one of whom could probably have done this far more successfully. Hacking other agencies isn't within your job description."

"But McGee does it all the time" Abby protested.

"Special Agent McGee has qualifications in computer forensics, he has never been caught hacking into a fellow agency without a warrant, and he has also assured me that he has never done so without a direct order from his superior, in many cases he's even demanded that the orders be put in writing before he's willing to put the agency a risk like this" Jenny said firmly. "What case were you investigating that you needed information about FBI personnel? The only assignments on your docket today were evidence processing for the case Special Agent Balboa and his team are investigating and according to them there is no indication that the FBI could be involved. Have I been misinformed? Did you receive a request from one of the other teams?"

Abby thought about stretching the truth but in the mood Shepherd was in she'd probably check. "No ma'am I was doing a background check on someone who said they were an FBI agent. I didn't believe they could be given their age and the security of the agency was at risk" she said putting the best spin on it that she could.

"You were investigating Special Agent McGee's spouse?" Jenny confirmed.

"Well he says that's who he is but he looks like a teenage boy. He isn't old enough to be married let alone an FBI agent" Abby replied.

"It might interest you to know that McGee's husband is exactly who he said he was. A highly decorated British officer currently seconded to the FBI. I imagine the fact he looks a decade younger than he is makes him quite the asset. The FBI were certainly not at all reassured to find that's who NCIS were trying to investigate" Jenny said severely. "In fact, they're considering charging you with treason."

"But I was only trying to protect McGee" Abby protested.

"You're suspended for a month without pay while this whole thing is sorted out. There will be an internal investigation as well as the investigation by the FBI and you had better hope and pray that the British government doesn't decide to press charges because I have no effective argument against them extraditing you for trial in the UK if they decide to do so. Stay in town Ms Scuito. This is not a vacation and the FBI will be questioning you and it will affect your reinstatement if they have to issue a BOLO for your arrest."

Abby tried to storm off but Jenny stopped her. "Please take a seat. Security will be here momentarily to take you to collect your personal things."

"But I'm not fired! Are you asking me to clean out my desk?" Abby asked affronted.

"Not at all, you may leave personal items on your desk if you so desire but your lab and your office will be used by your temporary replacement in your absence and if your clutter prevents them from doing their work affectively I will order it removed. You will not be eligible to complain if the things you choose to leave behind are moved or used while you're not here" Jenny said not prepared to have a repeat of the tantrum Abby threw last time her office had been cleared out by the temporary replacement.

Security arrived and escorted Abby to her lab and then out of the building giving her no opportunity to contact anyone before she left. She ignored them standing watching while she sat in her car, waiting for her to leave the yard and pulled out her phone to call Gibbs.

"Gibbs" he answered briskly.

"Gibbs Gibbs" Abby said in distress.

"What ya got Abs?" Gibbs asked.

"I've been suspended for a month without pay Gibbs. I can't live without pay for a month Gibbs" Abby whined.

"Why'd you get suspended Abbs?" Gibbs asked, no longer willing to assume everyone else was at fault.

"You need to fix this Gibbs" Abby demanded.

"Not until you tell me what's going on" Gibbs replied keeping calm. "Come on Abby. What did you do?"

"They're being unfair. Nothing Tim hasn't done a hundred times" Abby whined.

"Abby" Gibbs said warningly.

Abby realised that Gibbs wasn't listening to her complaints and changed tacks. "Please Gibbs" she begged.

"I'll ask Jenny what's going on" Gibbs said sighing, "But I'm making no promises, Abs. If you broke the rules then there's probably not much I can do about it."

"But Gibbs…" Abby protested. She knew he would fix everything for her and started imagining returning to work and the apology McGee would have to give her.

"Aaarrgh" she yelled realising that Gibbs had hung up on her.

-o0o-

"What was that about?" Tony asked ever curious.

"I doubt it's any of your business DiNozzo" Ziva said.

"Abbs has been suspended for a month without pay. Does anyone know anything about that?" Gibbs asked looking at his team.

"The hacking attack you called me down to help with was originated by Abby and I didn't manage to get back out before they found out where it was coming from. The FBI didn't take too kindly to having someone try to hack their personnel files." Tim replied, admitting what he knew of the situation before he could be asked. This could go very badly if Gibbs stormed into the director's office without knowing the full story.

"Did she get in?" Gibbs demanded.

"If she'd got in she would've been arrested Boss" Tim replied bluntly. "And if it was Hadrian's file she got into it could be serious."

Gibbs growled. His team put their heads down and suddenly looked like they were working very hard

-o0o-

Jenny sighed in relief when Scuito left the office without Jethro having burst in to defend her. Not that she didn't expect him to come roaring in like an outdated knight to save 'his damsel in distress' but she hoped it would be easier to get him to see reason without said damsel egging him on. Sure enough she'd not long turned back to her paperwork when Jethro burst in followed by her apologetic secretary.

"I couldn't stop him Ma'am" she stammered.

"Nobody can Cynthia" Jenny said wearily, smiling gently at the woman, her face hardened as she turned to Jethro. "What can I do for you today?" she asked tiredly.

"You suspended Abby?" Jethro asked surprisingly mildly.

"It's not up for discussion, Jethro. She's suspended without pay until the matter is fully investigated. It was all I could do to stop the FBI from dragging her out of here in handcuffs and if I'd known then that her hacking wasn't case related I might have let them" Jenny said firmly.

"So she admitted to trying to investigate McGee's friend?" Gibbs asked sighing. "Against my direct orders."

"May I ask why you felt the need to give her a direct order not to investigate McGee's partner?" Jenny asked curiously.

Gibbs frowned when he realised what he'd let slip. "She filched a couple of glasses from Ducky's Party on Sunday and I caught her trying to run the prints this morning" Gibbs said slightly guilty that he was probably making things worse but still angry about her not following his orders.

Jenny sighed and made a note. "Did she at least return Ducky's glasses undamaged?"

"They were in her office waiting to have the superglue cleaned off. They're antique glass so I hope it comes off without damaging them" Gibbs replied.

"You'd best see if they were left in her office or the lab and remove them. I gave her TAD permission to remove any of Abby's personal items that were in the way of doing the job efficiently" Jenny warned him. "Abby was informed of this, so do not let her make life difficult for the other technicians when she returns. If she returns."

Gibbs sighed. "Is there anything I can do for her?" he asked.

"Convince her to speak to a counsellor or perhaps a psychiatrist, she almost sounded unbalanced when she was in here earlier" Jenny said honestly.

Jethro nodded. "I'll try" he said getting up. "See ya Jenn."

Jenny sighed and decided that it wasn't worth demanding that he call her by her professional title again when he was only going to ignore her. She picked up her pen and hoped not to get any more interruptions that afternoon.

-o0o-

"So, do you know anything about the FBI agent married to Agent McGee?" Jenny Shepherd asked Gibbs as they were among the last to leave the building that night. Jenny was feeling a lot more charitable towards the leader of her best team after a productive evening clearing her desk.

"Sure" Gibbs replied. "You don't think I know what's affecting my team?"

"What can you tell me about them. Are they a threat?"

"They're Secret Service, seconded to consult with FBI, NSA and Homeland. Been knighted by the queen though any record of why is classified up the whahoo. Rumour has it they took down an entire terrorist organisation and considering that the date they was put up for the knighthood and several other military and civilian medals both in Britain and western Europe coincides with a sudden reduction in terrorist attacks in Britain as well as the end of that strange run of unexplained disasters, I'd say the rumours are probably substantiated."

"Sounds like you approve of this person" Jenny commented.

"Decorated war hero and from what I hear a hell of an investigator. I'd have them on my team" Gibbs said bluntly.

"And yet Abby couldn't find anything on them?" Jenny pressed.

"I said Black was a hell of an investigator, not that Abby was. There's a reason Tim goes down to assist her with the computer forensics" Gibbs smirked. "McGee wouldn't give Abby their last name"

"And you're satisfied with the background check you ran on them?" Jenny asked absolutely positive that no matter how much Jethro may deny it he would have investigated this agent who had so much influence over the junior on his team. "Abby said there was reason to be concerned that they were a threat to the security of our agency."

"I am. I ran facial recognition on the friends that came to the wedding. One came back to an English Lord, one to a high up member of government and another is believed to be one of the leaders of the secret service. Fornel checked the FBI file, with the clearances they have, the kid's no threat to us" Gibbs replied.

"Kid?" Jenny asked.

"Kid looks like a teenager but has employment records going back nine years. The knighthood's and service medals go back that far too. Has a four year old who they was given custody of when the boy's grandmother died and they recently adopted a baby girl. There's nothing off about them."

"Then what's Scuito on about?" Jenny asked

"She doesn't like the fact that Black encourages McGee not to let Abby walk all over him" Gibbs said bluntly. "He called her on her spoilt brat behaviour and she didn't like it."

Jenny laughed. "And you didn't defend her?" she asked disbelievingly.

"Abby was the one out of line" Gibbs replied defensively.

"That never mattered to you before" Jenny commented perceptively.

"Yeah well I've had my eyes opened" Gibbs replied.

"Will McGee's spouse encourage the FBI to pursue charges against Abby Scuito?" Jenny asked.

"If it was just the hack into the personnel files, probably not" Gibbs said thoughtfully. "He's not that kind of petty and he was more amused than anything when I admitted I'd had someone look into his background. Said that he was glad I had Tim's six. But he was already pissed off at Abby for the way she treated McGee when he told her about the wedding and they had quite an argument at Ducky's on the Fourth. He'll press charges if he thinks it's in McGee's best interests."

"Is there a risk that the FBI will poach McGee from us?" Jenny asked.

"In a heartbeat. You know that he and DiNozzo have both had offers after we've worked with them" Gibbs replied.

"Do you think he'll take their offer in order to work with his husband? I'm assuming it is a husband after you and McGee were both so careful not to say he or she."

Gibbs grimaced at giving that away, hopefully it wouldn't do any harm. "From what Hadrian's said he works in a very specialised area, they wouldn't work together even if Tim transfers. You want my advice on how to keep McGee? Treat him well" Gibbs said bluntly. "That man of his is absolutely furious with the way Tim was treated after the dog attack. He turned up in my basement while McGee was in surgery and read me the riot act about it. He admitted he'd have Tim out of here in an instant if Tim expressed even a mild desire to leave."

"You want me to pander to a junior agent?" Jenny asked amused.

"I want you to be scrupulously fair when it comes to all my agents Jen" Gibbs all but ordered. "All of my Agents, no more special favours for Mossad Director David's daughter. She needs to earn her place on my team and next time I send in a request that she gets more investigative training I expect you to either approve it or move her to a position that doesn't require the skills she doesn't have."

"Ziva needs to stay on the MCRT" Jenny said decidedly.

"Then get her the training she needs to be an asset to the team" Gibbs barked.

"I thought you liked to train your agents your way" Jenny said archly.

"Yeah but most agents have base training to work with and a knowledge of what they don't know. Ziva's probably a damned good undercover agent, handler and assassin but I need an investigator and her hubris is getting in the way of her recognising what skills she lacks" Gibbs replied. "Every time you favour her or force me to treat her like she's earned her spot on my team and refuse to make her undergo the necessary training undermines McGee who really has earned his place."

"I thought you liked Ziva, she saved your life" Jenny reminded him.

"I do like her, all the more reason to want her to become a competent investigator" Gibbs retorted.

-o0o-

Abby attempted to call Gibbs several times on Monday night. Gibbs finally answered her about nine o'clock.

"Hey Abs" he said.

"Gibbs Gibbs" Abby said anxiously.

"There's nothing I can do Abs" Gibbs said gently.

"But Gibbs. I need to be paid" Abby whined.

Gibbs sighed. "Being paid is the least of your worries Abs. You were caught hacking the FBI personnel files. If you'd got in you could have compromised every undercover operative they have. The FBI wants your head on a plate" he explained as if to a new agent or young child. "You can expect them to come and question you in the next few days. Keep calm while they interview you Abs. If you are lucky then you can convince them you were only interested in learning more about Hadrian McGee to protect Tim and didn't actually mean their agents any harm."

"But Gibbs…"

"Abby it's out of my hands" Gibbs said frustrated.

"Gibbs…"

"Abby do you have something to say?" Gibbs asked.

"It isn't fair Gibbs. Can't you get her to suspend me with pay?" Abby whined.

"Bye Abs" Gibbs replied.

-o0o-

"McGee is it possible for you to hack Abby's bank records without being caught?" Gibbs asked.

"Sure, but why?" Tim replied.

"She's so stressed about being suspended without pay. I just want to know if she needs a loan to tide her over" Gibbs replied.

"You know she won't pay you back" Tim warned as he started typing.

"She'll pay me back" Gibbs said confidently.

"She owes me a couple of hundred dollars too Boss. Tim's right she doesn't repay loans. I know she owes Ducky and she owed Kate money too. Ziva refused to lend her anything."

"She doesn't need a loan, there's more than enough in her account to cover her rent, utilities and regular payments for the month" Tim reported.

"Good. I'm going for coffee" Gibbs said getting up.

"Is that true or do you just want her to suffer?" Tony asked curiously, once Gibbs was out of earshot.

"You're suggesting that I'd lie to Gibbs?" Tim asked incredulously.

"Well?" Tony pressed.

"It's true, there won't be any extra for concert tickets and clubbing, but she'll be able to cover necessary expenses" Tim replied.

"Whoo hoo! That's going to hurt" Tony said.

-o0o-

The FBI arrested Abby Tuesday afternoon, after she lost her temper during her interview and declaring that this whole mess was Hadrian's fault. Gibbs intervened suggesting that she receive a psych eval before they pressed charges and she was transferred to St Elizabeth's for 72 hours evaluation.

The evaluation confirmed that Abby retained the knowledge of right and wrong, and that she understood the potential consequences of her actions in the abstract, but her fixed belief that Gibbs would make everything okay gave them some concern. In the end they diagnosed some narcissistic personality traits but declared her competent to face charges for her actions.

She was still insisting that she didn't mean anybody any harm that she was only trying to prove to her friend Timmy that his friend was lying to him about being an FBI agent and wasn't to be trusted.

"If you didn't think he was an agent why hack the personnel files?" they asked her.

"Timmy needs saving from this con artist, you don't know him the way I do, he never has any luck with relationships. He's too trusting."

"Isn't this Timmy you're referring to Special Agent McGee? Why would you think he could be in a relationship for years with someone without knowing the truth about them?" Agent Clancy asked sceptically.

"So you were planning to look through all the personnel files so you could tell your friend that his boyfriend wasn't in our data base?"

"What? No! I was going to look up his name. Hadrian McGee. It's not like I was going to look at any of the files because I wouldn't have found anything."

"Not without my real name which Tim didn't trust you enough to tell you" Hadrian said entering the room.

"What are you doing here" Abby sprung up and tried to attack him. The other agents quickly restrained her.

"What are you doing here?" she yelled again as they cuffed her to the table.

"I work here" Hadrian replied dryly. He gestured to the agents on guard duty to leave.

"What?" Abby exclaimed

"I work here, I work as a Supervisory Special Agent for the FBI just like Tim told you. I wasn't lying. I am no threat to Tim and you knew that" Hadrian stated calmly. "The only thing I am a threat to is your one sided relationship with Tim because I won't allow you to treat my husband like your personal slave anymore. So, you thought to try and discredit me. You should have listened to Tim and the others. Gibbs, Ducky and Jimmy came to our wedding. Do you really think that Gibbs would have supported our marriage like that without having me checked out?"

"You really are an agent?" Abby asked disbelievingly.

"Yes I'm an agent. And seeing as it was my file you were trying to hack into I can decide not to press charges. But, I'm only going to do that if you give me your word to treat Tim decently. You don't have to be friendly just polite and professional. No more abuse" Hadrian offered unwillingly. He knew Tim was too soft-hearted to ant his former friend convicted. "I'll leave you to think about it because if you break your word you will be charged and convicted."

Abby gulped, the look in his eyes told her he was deadly serious. He was even more scary than the way Gibbs looked when he interrogated a suspect he knew was guilty. There would be no mercy for her if she didn't keep her word and McGee complained about the way she was treating him.

-o0o-

Tim's team caught a new murder case the next day and Tim found the TAD forensic technician polite and impersonal, efficient but more by the book than Abby. He appreciated the difference but Gibbs quickly grew impatient with the lack of results. The new technician didn't react well to the team leader's impatience and wanted to make an official complaint but Tim managed to talk her out of it. Ducky talked to Gibbs about not being so aggressive with the technicians.

"They're not on your team Jethro, not that I always approve of the way you treat your team either, but the support staff aren't field agents and you can't treat them like that. The girl was already afraid of you from your reputation and now she's so nervous she's going to have trouble doing her job while you're there" Ducky scolded him.

"What do I do now?" Gibbs growled.

"If I were you I'd send Tony down with orders to be nice, let him charm the young lady into calming down. I wouldn't go down to the lab yourself except to apologise" Ducky suggested calmly, not at all upset by his friend's bad temper towards him.

From then on Tony and Tim were in charge of going down to the lab when necessary. Neither of them minded, they both preferred working with Abby's replacement and both secretly wished the replacement was permanent.

-o0o-

A/N: Thank you to Almonda, Locket1, Kourtney Uzu Yato, yngoldfogee (Guest), ElysiumPhoenix, Lientjuhh, icyquest4, julschristine975, Rori Potter, Firehedgehog, DarkRavie, Guest, lilly-flower15, Vladimir Mithrander, xDarklightx, Selenity84, AlexCurtis, Ace Trainer Jessie, Gracie15Trowa, Gottahavemyncis, mithrilandtj, buterflypuss, Kaorilamb, gabrieljuarezl, Maben00, serenityselena, Merlenyn, acherongoddess, DS2010, charm13insomnia, ShadowWolf's Fables, .9, Silvermane1, BCgurlie, Guest, Carl-the-strange, veyronking995, zivadavid03, Snow Queen 43, theasap, KazzyFreax, Reader Ethiriel, Mistlerose, Allllikat7, Angelslight20, Demongirl808, GiuliaDark1, Yuki Yui Yuu, spacetraintotheUniverse, sazsazzelsaz, DarkSerphiam, lolislolis, blue moon, anchy32, vdwade23, Glas, sPlakton, healingcat, , Riveer, Lady Akina, SusanSnape, janiram, MegaKiraraLover, Rasean, WaldArya, 01, shoppingnull, , gilliande, hochexplosiv, Phoenixtears28, lilsis15, BakerTennant'sTardis, Shadowstar2016, didile, ClaireyBeary, Sarluna and MerryBabe for your support.


	45. Chapter 45

Chapter 45

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or NCIS or any of their characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do NOT give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

-o0o-

Hadrian had noticed that Hermione rarely wrote to him anymore and the letters that came were oddly formal and stilted compared to their previous correspondence. He didn't much care about the change thinking that it might be a result her being able to read his unexpressed anger in his own letters to her. He was disgusted that she'd let Andi and Teddy down as she had. She was supposed to be Teddy's godmother but though Teddy had recognised the name and Tollie had been able to point out several picture books that had been gifts from his Aunt Hermione, Teddy didn't recognise her in the picture she'd sent Harry when her baby was born. She had still made no mention of Andi's death though he knew from correspondence with Neville and Luna that she'd been at the funeral.

She'd been apologetic about not naming him godfather to her daughter but Hadrian had honestly been glad that she hadn't. A godfather should be involved in his godchild's life and he didn't feel that he could spend enough quality time with the little girl under the circumstances. He and Tim had talked it over carefully and when they asked Gibbs and Neville to be Rosie's godparents they had also asked Tony and Kingsley to become Teddy's new godparents. Hadrian couldn't do it anymore since he was Teddy's father now, he and Tim had legally adopted the little boy after they got married and it seemed that Hermione didn't bother to be a decent godparent even when Teddy had lived with Andi less than fifty miles from her. Tony on the other hand visited regularly, taking his godson to the movies or bringing over classic Disney movies for the two of them to watch. Kingsley also made an effort to stay in touch, talking to Teddy via the floo every week and visiting whenever he could spare the time for a whole day away from the ministry.

So now that Hermione was no longer Teddy's godmother and had clearly taken little interest in him while he was living with Andi, Hadrian didn't feel the need to mention him in his letters to Hermione and the Weasleys. He had no doubt that everything he wrote to Hermione was shared with Ron and that Ron would share most of what he heard with his family. He wrote about his work without giving away locations and a little about his friends and Tim, though he didn't disclose his true relationship with him. He wrote of his satisfaction with his current life and mentioned his love for the children without telling them who they were.

Hermione in reply wrote of her daughter, of missing her work, of the boredom and isolation she felt being at home with her baby all day, and the general dissatisfaction with her life and relationships. She wrote about missing Harry but made no real effort to remain close to him. Her letters were stilted and Hadrian wondered whether Ron insisted on reading them before they were sent or if Hermione wrote that way because she felt like she was writing to someone she didn't know very well anymore. Hadrian didn't feel that he knew Ron or Hermione that well these days. He would never have believed in the early days of their relationship that Ron would force Hermione into becoming a stay at home mother when it was clear to him even at this distance how unhappy she was. He had written and offered the use of a nanny elf to assist with the baby so Hermione would have more free time to work on her own research projects or just to get out and see her family and friends but the offer was rudely declined with a rant against elf slavery though she had to know better than that by now. In return, Hadrian had sent her a book on house elves (with the warning not to show anyone because the book was banned in Britain) and didn't write to her again for quite some time.

-o0o-

Being on leave Hadrian had no reason to need to return to England except to see friends and he arranged for Neville, Hannah and their children as well as Luna to join them for a week in Hawaii where the Potter's still owned a house. Tim had the last week of July off so he and Neville would celebrate their birthdays together with the week long house party. The house had been vacant for years but Hadrian had sent Quincy on ahead to do the necessary repairs to make it liveable, including renewing the climate control charms for both temperature and humidity inside the house, and hired the goblins to update the wards and provide them all international portkeys. It was a purely wizarding house and after discussion with Tim, Hadrian had elected not to modernise it or install electricity to the house itself. The property included three acres of mostly bush and a very private beach which Hadrian thought was probably a good thing seeing that Hannah and Neville would both probably bring swimsuits that would look out of place anywhere outside of a Victorian period museum.

They left DC at noon arriving in Hawaii twelve nauseating minutes later at 0712. The stomach soother potions did their job and by 0715 the four of them were ready to explore their new vacation house.

"Are we in England?" Teddy asked recognising the feel of the international portkey from when Hadrian had brought him to live with them.

"No Teddy, we're at the beach in Hawaii. Neville and Hannah are coming to have a holiday with us. They're going to bring their son Franklin who is younger than you and their new baby." Hadrian replied.

"Is Frankwin big enough to play?" Teddy asked.

"He's big enough to play but he is still littler than you so you will have to be gentle" Hadrian replied.

"I don't know how you did that every week to visit him" Tim said still looking and feeling a little green. "And the portkey to England would be even longer wouldn't it?"

"Twenty-three minutes but portkeying is worse for you than it is for me, it affects your vestibular system and yours is already hypersensitive" Hadrian said.

"Because I get seasick?" Tim asked.

"No the reason you get seasick is the reason you get more portkey sickness than the rest of us" Hadrian explained. "Do you want to go and lie down for a while? It's still early, Neville and his family won't arrive until lunchtime."

"I could lie down right here" Tim replied. "It's not as hot as I thought it would be."

"This is about average this time of year but remember that it's not even 0730 yet" Hadrian replied. "The reason people love Hawaii so much is that the sea is warm here without the weather being too hot."

"It's nice with the breeze, I can smell the sea is it close?" Tim replied.

"Close enough that we're going to have to keep a close eye on Teddy. There's a beach on the edge of the property

They headed into the cool house and were met by Quincy. "Hello Quincy. Have you enjoyed fixing this house up, it's a beautiful old place isn't it?" Hadrian greeted him.

"You have some beautiful houses but to be honest master I don't like the heat. The air be's wet all the time"

Hadrian laughed. "The humidity does take a bit of getting use to" he agreed. "Do you have a favourite of my houses?"

"I'se be likeing the house in Scotland about an hour's fly by broom from Hogsmeade" Quincy replied.

"Ive never seen that one. I'll have to visit it next time I'm in Britain if it's your favourite" Hadrian replied trying to smile at the elf in spite of wanting to punch a wall in sheer frustration and regret. All those months Padfoot had spent living in a cave and eating rats when he had a house nearby that he didn't know about.

Quincy quickly showed them the house and Tim lay down while Hadrian stripped off to shorts and a tank top, cast the sunscreen charm on all of them, including Tim because he didn't want to risk forgetting later, and took the kids out to explore.

They were joined by an elf with the darkest green skin Hadrian had ever seen. "I'se be Jib I'se takes care of the gardens here" he said cheerfully.

"They're lovely" Hadrian said appreciatively. "My friend Neville who's coming today will probably have a lot of questions for you about the plants, he's a keen gardener and herbologist."

"They'se all muggle plants heres" Jib said. "There'ses a potionses gardens on the others side of the wall. We sells ingredients to apothecaries in London, Hogsmeade and Americas."

"Well I'm sure he'll want to see that too" Hadrian said smiling.

They headed to the sand and played, Hadrian trying to teach Teddy to make sandcastles while trying to stop Rosie from rolling off her blanket and trying to eat the sand. Not entirely successful with either endeavour he was glad to pack up and head back to the house for lunch.

Tim joined them feeling much better and helped him to bath the children before his friends arrived.

They went down and waited near their arrival point and a few minutes later the Longbottoms arrived. Hannah was carrying both the children and landed gently bouncing on her cushioning charms. Neville on the other hand landed flat on his face. Hadrian rushed over and picked them both up. "Hey Nev, hello Hannah" he greeted.

"Hey Harry" Nev gave his friend a one-armed hug.

"Harry Potter!" Hannah Longbottom explained. "Is this where you've been hiding?"

"No actually, we're here for a holiday the same as you" Hadrian replied. "Hannah I'd like you to meet my husband Tim and our children Teddy and Rosie."

"This is Franklin and Ellison" Neville said introducing his own children.

"Teddy can you say hello to uncle Neville and Auntie Hannah and Franklin?" Hadrian asked.

"Unca Neville?" Teddy grinned recognising the man.

"Hey Teddy, you've grown" Neville greeted him. "Are you starting preschool next year?"

"He is" Hadrian confirmed.

"How do you know Teddy?" Hannah asked.

"Teddy is Teddy Lupin, His parents died in the Battle of Hogwarts and he lived in London with his grandmother Andi Tonks until her death" Hadrian said trying to give his friend an out.

"I met him at Harry and Tim's wedding. Part of the muggle life training I did was to fly in a muggle plane and visit muggle shopping centres and hotels and attend Harry's wedding. I spent the weekend having to fool Tim's muggle law enforcement team. And I passed the training, I never knew I was going to see Harry until we arrived and I was under orders not to tell you" Neville confessed.

"Why are you in hiding anyway? You're a hero" Hannah turned and asked Harry. She was surprised by the expression that crossed his face, he looked ten years older in that moment and she was saddened to recognise that was how he looked before he left the country.

"It's not easy being a hero. Everybody thinks you belong to them, that because you saved them they have the right to tell you what to do, who to love, what job to do, what your wedding should be like who your friends should be, who you can talk to. And when you don't do what they think they get angry. On top of that are the Voldemort supporters who are still angry that I killed him. I was dealing with an attempted attack every couple of weeks and at least one of them succeeded. Then I found out that the Weasleys were lying to me. That Ginny didn't care about me the person at all. She just wanted to be 'the-wife-of-the-saviour'. I realised that I would never really know if any other girl I dated in England would be with me only because of my fame. I just wanted to get away for a while. So Kingsley arranged for me to work overseas and I loved it. I like being able to walk down the street without anyone wondering where I was going, I could take someone out for coffee without ending up in the papers and then I met Tim and fell in love. He grew up in the muggle world and had no idea that I was rich and famous, what we have is real."

"But he's a guy!" Hannah protested.

"And if I stayed in Britain I never would have dared to think about dating a man. The British wizarding world is so homophobic there would've been an uproar. But I honestly have always been attracted to men just as much as I am to women" Hadrian replied honestly. He hoped she wouldn't freak out but there was a reason he'd sent them a phrase triggered portkey so they could leave early if they wanted to.

"What's homophobic?" Hannah asked.

"Unfounded fear of and prejudice against homosexuals, people who are attracted to their own gender" Tim said quietly.

"Our numbers are too small, we would have trouble keeping up our numbers if we weren't all encouraged to marry and have children, especially since so many witches have difficulty having more than one child" Hannah said.

"And yet the spell that lets two men have a child together is illegal in Britain" Hadrian said sardonically. "Rosie is biologically Tim's and my daughter and there's no reason we can't have another, I fell pregnant easily and carried easily. Rosie hasn't shown signs of accidental magic yet thank goodness but the healer assures me she will be a strong witch."

"It's impossible to test infants for magic" Hannah protested.

"It is in Britain, healers worldwide have agreed never to teach the charm to anyone who lives in Britain or plans to move there to practice, they even obliviate the knowledge of it from healers visiting Britain because they know that many families in Britain will kill a squib child. That kind of prejudice and practice doesn't exist where we live" Hadrian replied. "They wouldn't even cast the charm while I was in the room because I'm British."

"Did you have Teddy tested too?" Neville asked.

"I didn't need to, he'd already shown signs of magic" Hadrian said laughing, apart from morphing his hair, eyes and skin colour he's been summoning things he wants."

"He's four!" Neville exclaimed.

"Sirius once said I was performing accidental magic before my parents were killed" Hadrian replied.

"Neville laughed shakily, "I was ten before showed signs of accidental magic."

"If you hadn't been constantly run down and told you weren't good enough you probably would've shown magic earlier" Hannah said loyally.

"I've said it before Nev. That grandmother of yours was 'a witch with a B', I know she never fully recovered from losing your father like she did but she and your uncle Algie were nearly as abusive in their own way as the Dursleys were" Hadrian said. "You're a powerful wizard and it was their fault you didn't have the confidence to be a powerful child. I hope you don't leave her alone with Franklin."

"No, I don't" Hannah said fiercely. "We visit once a week but only rarely take the children and I make sure I stay with him."

-o0o-

They changed to swimming clothes after lunch and while Neville just looked a little surprised at Tim and Hadrian's swim shorts Hannah looked at the two men in askance. "You can't wear that in front of me and the children" she protested.

"Actually, these are fairly conservative swim shorts in the nonmagical world" Tim replied. "Swimming costumes like yours haven't been worn since the nineteenth century."

"That's only a couple of years ago. How could things change so much?" Hannah asked.

"No Hannah, the nineteenth century was from 1800 to 1899" Hadrian explained.

"I'd hate to see what you'd think of as not conservative swimwear" Neville said faintly.

"Think of Dean's red underpants in first year, the way they fit at the end of the year and you'd be close" Hadrian said grinning. "Or for women something like this" he said transfiguring Teddy's t-shirt into a skimpy G-string bikini and handing it to his shocked friend.

"Women actually wear this in public?" Neville asked.

"In a lot of places" Tim confirmed. "In fact, in parts of the Riviera they'd only wear the bottom half."

"I'm never wearing that disgusting thing" Hannah said taking it out of Neville's hands and throwing in Hadrian's face.

"I never asked you to" Hadrian replied calmly, reversing the transfiguration and putting the t-shirt back in the beach bag. "I didn't say a single thing against what you are wearing." In truth he found the woollen neck to knee baggy swimsuit covered in ruffles to be one of the ugliest pieces of clothing he'd seen since he'd vanished the last of Dudley's old clothes but if she was happy wearing it then it wasn't his place to complain. He only hoped for Neville's sake that she wasn't that much of a prude in private.

-o0o-

Harry and Neville took Teddy and Franklin to play near the water's edge leaving Tim and Hannah with the babies.

"You're good with her" she said, carefully not looking at him.

"She's my daughter, I love her" Tim replied. "I spend as much time with both of them as I can. You seem nervous. Have I done anything to upset or disturb you?"

"I've never met a muggle before, or you know a man who didn't like women" Hannah said awkwardly.

Tim laughed. "You still haven't. I like women, I just love Hadrian."

"Why do you call him Hadrian?" Hannah asked.

"That's his name. Why do you call him Harry?" Tim replied dryly.

"His name is Harry. Harry James Potter" Hannah stated certainly.

"The-Boy-Who-Lived" Tim added scowling. "He hates being thought of like that."

"I didn't call him that" Hannah protested. "Did he change his name when he left England?"

"No, he just decided to use his real name and a different part of his surname. Does Neville have more than one official name and title too?"

"Yeah, but he only ever uses Longbottom" Hannah replied.

"How'd you meet Harry?" Hannah asked.

"I actually met him on the plane as he left England. I sat next to him on the plane for xx hours and he was chattering on nervously. We got to know each other and I offered him a place to stay for a couple of days."

"You offered a total stranger a place to stay and he just went home with you?" Hannah asked incredulously. "Harry's one of the most suspicious wizards on the planet. He takes ages to trust new people."

"Well I'm in law enforcement too so we exchanged Creds" Tim said. "And I had no idea about the wizarding world so he didn't have to worry about me being a supporter of Voldemort. I'm somewhat famous in my own way in some circles too so I understand how he feels."

"How are you famous?"

"I'm an author. I write crime fiction. I'd just finished a book when I met Hadrian and I was sick of people fawning over me so we had that in common" Tim explained.

"Have you got a copy of your book?" Hannah asked.

"Not here" Tim replied. "I'm not sure how much of it you would understand. It seems like Hadrian's talking about a completely different race when he talks about the wizarding world."

"I always thought muggle houses were really different but this one's a lot like our beach house in Jersey."

"This isn't a muggle house" Tim replied. "I can't even work the lights or the taps on my own."

-o0o-

"We're going to hit the sack" Hadrian said after dinner.

Hannah and Neville both turned scarlet. "It's awfully early" Hannah mumbled, thinking them rude to be going to have sex when they had house guests.

"No not like that" Tim exclaimed realising what they were thinking. "It's eight thirty here and probably feels even earlier to you because of the time difference, but it's one thirty in the morning at home and we've been up since six. Teddy and Rosie will probably be awake in about four or five hours, their time clocks haven't had time to adjust."

"Goodnight Harry. We'll see you in the morning" Neville replied feeling a little guilty he hadn't seen how tired his friends were. "Night Tim."

"Night Nev, goodnight Hannah. Feel free to sleep until Franklin and Ellison wake up. The elves will serve breakfast whenever you're ready for it" Hadrian said.

"Good night Nev, sleep well" Tim said tiredly. "Good night Hannah."

"Good night" Hannah replied softly.

-o0o-

Tollie had spelled Teddy to sleep until six local time and after feeding Rosie in the middle of the night had spelled her back to sleep too so the whole family woke feeling refreshed and energetic. Glad that there were silencing charms on the guest suite thy headed downstairs to find breakfast laid out for them on the deck. They ate then explored the area around the house. Jib happily showing them the potions garden and packaging facilities.

"So even this decadent holiday house, earns its upkeep?" Tim asked amused.

"It actually makes a tidy profit, more than enough to update the house with electricity if you think we'd use it enough to make it worthwhile. I don't think you would be able to get internet reception here though."

"We could get a satellite phone and still be contactable" Tim suggested.

"Yeah, if you got called back to work, we're only an extra twelve minutes away but you'd have to deal with the portkey sickness" Hadrian replied.

"To be able to come here in the middle of winter and just spend time lying in the sun relaxing would almost be worth it" Tim said.

"Almost. Until you had to portkey back one time an hour after we got here and then try to drive to a crime scene with your stomach still feeling like its spinning around inside you" Hadrian agreed.

Rosie started to get cranky so they headed back to the house and put her down for her morning sleep handing Teddy over to Tollie to look after while they spent some time alone before the Longbottoms woke up and joined them. They lay together on the swinging daybed out on the balcony with a one way silencing charm so they could hear if the children woke up but couldn't be overheard.

"This would be a good place to make love" Tim suggested rolling on top of Hadrian and simulating a few thrusts to see how the bed would react.

Hadrian moaned, thrusting up to meet Tim rugging their erections against each other. "Here and down on the beach at sunset or in the rock pools and even the middle of the lower lawn at midnight" he agreed. "This would be a good place for us to come one weekend and have a bit of a honeymoon."

"We could make love here now" Tim suggested running a hand down Hadrian's thigh and pulling it up to open his groin up to nestle between.

Hadrian wrapped that leg around Tim for a moment before using it to roll them both back on their sides.

"I would love to but I don't want to risk it. Homophobia is not only normal in their culture it's encouraged. You heard Hannah. She was only saying what I've heard others say I needed to marry and have as many children as I could for the good of the gene pool. Their acceptance of us is so fragile I don't think she could handle catching us kissing let alone having sex. In fact, we should get up and go sit on separate chairs. I'm sure they'll be down soon"

Tim pouted for a moment before standing and holding out a hand to Hadrian to help him up. They sat on the deck chairs around in the sun and Hadrian called an elf to bring them some coffee for Tim and lemonade for himself.

"Neville and Hannah's portkey leaves on Sunday just after lunch. We could put the kids down for their naps before we go" Hadrian suggested.

Tim grinned, "And go down to the beach and test exactly how effective that sunscreen charm of yours can be on skin that's never seen the sun before? Though I'm not sure I like the possibility of getting sand in there, it's bad enough everywhere else."

"I'm sure I can cast a cleaning charm to make sure there's none on my hands or the lube as I prepare you" Hadrian reassured him.

-o0o-

The Longbottoms came out on the deck perfectly groomed but somehow still looking like they'd just woken up.

"Hey there" Hadrian called, waving the coffee pot. He conjured a cup for Hannah and asked an elf to bring them a pot of tea and two cups.

"Oh thank heavens" Hannah said gulping the coffee down like an addict overdue a fix. "Good morning" she said finally looking at them.

"Morning Hannah" Hadrian laughed. "Did you sleep well?"

"We're not so formal in the mornings, feel free to come down in your pyjama's if you're hungry" Tim said.

"We took a potion" Neville replied. "I remembered how hard it was to deal with the time changes for your wedding so we came prepared."

The elf arrived with the tea and took breakfast orders from them. "It's already warm out here, what time is it?" Neville asked.

"Just after ten" Hadrian replied.

"Where Teddy?" Franklin asked.

"Upstairs with Tollie, she'll bring him down to play after you eat your breakfast" Tim replied.

Hannah looked at him gratefully as the food arrived and Franklin started to eat.

"Tollie can you bring Teddy down if he's awake" Hadrian called once he'd had enough.

A moment later they could all hear Teddy shrieking with laughter as he was carefully levitated down the stairs. She set up wards around the grass area and Hadrian conjured several climbing toys similar to the ones he used to conjure at Andi's when Teddy was younger. Tim took over cuddling the baby once she'd been fed so the two adults could eat their breakfast.

A/N: Happy Australia Day Everyone!

A/N2: Thank you to xDarklightx, Firehedgehog, Kaorilamb, ElysiumPhoenix, dobbys-stinger, lilly-flower15, Sakura Lisel, Gracie15Trowa, Kourtney Uzu Yato, Maben00, .9, BCgurlie, Locket1, Guest, julschristine975, charm13insomnia, serenityselena, Selenity84, DS2010, Village-Mystic, Rori Potter, DarkRavie, acherongoddess, SpiritBlackPaw, buterflypuss, Vladimir Mithrander, Gottahavemyncis, Reader Ethiriel, Almonda, Silvermane1, Merlenyn, AniCharisma, mayawene, anthea tronchard step, lia (Guest), antipodean, Fandommember, asdf (Guest), staar (Guest), jument fiere, Onlyabrit, KawaiSara89, winterhail, DebsTheSlytherinSnapefan, help does wonders, sarahbird5603, Candylightning2000, Starlight Drama, .pandas, Spannie 2, charmed415, rottigirl, xxXYourBestFriendXxx, mich-shelly, ShadowSkill29, Ash Firebird, AmarisPale, faristi, Praline83, 98Eiks, .3114, nixstah, kschanuel, Immortal Senshi, Cocorose1221, celenia, Ryu-Tsui-Sen, kerigocrazy, zekesant, XThiagoX, Carenos, mommsprincess, Ilena Petrova, eignav0331, tor200534, Asheyyxx, collussus96, flying chrissy 1976, lucinagurrier, Jisra Lumina, RLupin1003, reya23, Sesshylover16, Tenko Strife, Missymysissy, rfuggiti, dreamjanus, diamondrose57, IceAngel1982, LadyLovelace999, TigerRaven, murphy9202, mariangraham76, mshipman1990, Miss Nailia, Megami284, , Mandara, GBTA-Geek, QChronoD, gryff-factor, moon3 and gamegeek for your support.


	46. Chapter 46

Chapter 46

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or NCIS or any of their characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do NOT give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

-o0o-

They days passed in similar manner, Hadrian getting to know Hannah and finding he quite liked her in spite of her gossiping ways. She was definitely a positive influence on Neville and a good mother. Their children were delightful.

She had however managed to tell him news about half their Hogwarts class, including several things he was sure the people involved wouldn't want talked about so he could understand why Neville had lied to her about the Wedding. Not surprisingly, Tim found it difficult to get to know her since most of her conversation was about people he'd never met and many he'd never heard of.

Teddy and Franklin played together well though Franklin wasn't yet at the age of co-operative play and Teddy sometimes became frustrated with him not following instructions. The adults were all quick to notice and intervene when it happened and soon after the two would be back playing with minimal fuss. The two babies close in age really didn't interact much but they happily shared a warded and shaded blanket on the beach.

Tim and Neville became firm friends though Tim found himself having to explain a lot of the things he said. He didn't realise how much Hadrian's muggle upbringing had helped him to understand things when he first came to America. Neville was fascinated by their lives in DC but either Hadrian or Tim needed to go back and explain things and correct misunderstandings in almost every conversation they had with the British couple.

"I got an O for my muggle studies NEWT" Hannah cried in frustration one day. "I studied really hard and you're telling me that everything I learned is lies?"

"Not all lies but out of date" Hadrian tried to explain. "From what I could tell talking to Sirius, and Mr Weasley the wizarding world hasn't changed much in over a hundred years. Sure, brooms are a bit faster and there have been a few new spells invented but a lot of them are banned in Britain anyway. What wizards don't understand is that the non-magical world changes very quickly. When I was at school I'd come home for the summer and some of the technology had changed since I left in September and I'd have to relearn how to do things. Hermione said that the muggle studies course was more than fifty years behind the times, they were just learning about early automobiles and electric lights. The problem is even when the muggle raised complain the purebloods don't understand the problem because the British wizarding world has changed very little in that time."

Hannah sighed and lost interest but Neville listened attentively. "Once I reach thirty I'm eligible for a seat on the Hogwarts board" he explained. "The better I can explain some of these things the more chance I have of getting the course updated enough to be useful."

"It needs to be taught by a muggleborn, preferably one who still spends most of their time in the muggle world and only comes to Hogwarts one day a week to teach, otherwise it will be out of date again within a few years" Hadrian said.

"I don't think I'm ever going to get that past the board" Neville frowned.

"Sure you will, just let me know in advance when I need to come. As the Duke of Gryffindor and the Earl of Slytherin I have the power to sack the entire board of directors. And I will once there are decent people I know to put in their place."

"Will you send Teddy to Hogwarts?" Neville asked.

"Probably not. Wizarding schools start at eight in America so by the time he 's old enough to go to Hogwarts he will be at a third year level with charms, transfiguration and DADA, fifth or sixth year level for Runes and Arithmancy and at least fourth year level in Potions and Herbology" Hadrian said laughing. "Can you imagine McGonagall's reaction if I demanded he be placed in those classes. Not to mention the pureblood's reactions."

Neville laughed too but Hannah frowned. "Aren't you depriving him of his heritage. Surely he'll want to go to the school his parents went to."

"Hogwarts is also the place his parents died. But if Teddy wants to go there and he's prepared to sit through first year classes again and be away from us for months he can. But Salem students come home every night until they're fourteen and then every weekend after that. I think he'll choose to stay with his friends" Hadrian replied calmly. "And you also have to remember that in Britain Teddy is well known as the son of a werewolf. The fact that both his parents died as heroes in the Battle of Hogwarts is forgotten or ignored but the stigma will never truly be forgotten.

"Aren't you planning on coming home Harry?" Hannah asked. "Surely you don't want to stay here in isolation forever no matter how nice it is for a holiday."

"Yeah! We're only here for the week you are. Tim's only got one week off. We need to get home and get ready for Teddy to start kindergarten and my paternity leave is almost over" Hadrian replied cheerfully.

"I meant home to England?" Hannah asked.

"I don't think I'll ever move back to magical England permanently. I've got used to being able to live without having all my decisions scrutinised by the likes of Rita Skeeter and I don't want to give that up. Besides you know that most of that world won't accept my marriage. Tim would be in grave danger there once they knew who he was" Hadrian said seriously.

"That's why we're here on this island in the middle of nowhere instead of visiting you in your home isn't it. And you've all been so careful not telling me the name of the island too. So that I can't accidentally tell people where you live" Hannah realised horrified. "You're afraid that someone would hurt Tim, Teddy and Rosie if they knew?"

"Teddy is the future head of the House of Black and Rosie is currently the Potter and Peveral heir, if I have a son they will also be the heir of Gryffindor and Slytherin. There are a lot of people out there that will object to Tim as my partner not only because he is a man but because he is what you would call a muggleborn and his magic is bound so strangers would think he's non-magical" Hadrian replied.

"His magic is bound?" Hannah asked shocked. "Who would do such a thing?"

"My parents" Tim said dryly, "Or rather the department of magical education did it at my parents' request when I was eight. It's standard practice here that a parent can choose to have their children's magic bound if they don't want to send them to a magical school."

"And people say we treat muggleborns badly" Hannah exclaimed crossly, we don't do that!"

"No Britain doesn't but they also don't monitor muggleborn children's families for signs of abuse either which Tim's country does vigorously from the first signs of accidental magic and children in danger are removed from their families and given to either magical parents or other parents who have a magical child. Every couple of years in Britain there is a muggleborn child that either doesn't live long enough to go to Hogwarts or is so damaged that they need to spend up to a year in St Mungos healing before having their memory altered because of their parents violent reaction to their accidental magic. And that's not even considering the fact that during both wars, any muggleborn children that performed any big burst of accidental magic that required the obliviators to be called in, were killed by the deatheaters within weeks of it happening" Hadrian replied.

"The reason you have a population problem is that children aren't being protected. Did you know that if two squibs marry each other, they have a fifty percent chance of their children or grandchildren being magical, and even marrying a muggle there is a ten percent chance of magical descendants within three generations. In fact, there is a theory that all so called muggleborn's are actually descended from squibs. That's possibly the reason there are so many more muggleborns born in the countries where the majority of squib children aren't killed."

"They're not" Hannah protested horrified.

"Did you know that Draco Malfoy was actually the fifth child born to his parents" Hadrian retorted. That Crabbe and Goyle both had older brothers and Knott had two sisters that both died shortly after their eleventh birthdays. There's a reason pureblood children are rarely seen until they're eight or nine."

"How do you know that?" Hannah demanded.

"Draco's mother was a Black her children are on the family tapestry. Draco told me about the others" Hadrian replied.

"You mean pureblood children are kept hidden until they show signs of magic? That's why I never had friends before Hogwarts. Franklin hasn't shown signs of magic yet but he's having so much fun with Teddy. I'm glad we brought him" Neville said.

Hadrian grinned. "Yeah but I've no doubt that you'll both still let him live and keep him if he turns out to be a squib" he said confidently.

"Of course" Neville replied as if no other course of action would ever be considered.

"Yes" Hannah replied more hesitantly, but maybe he would be better off in the muggle world. I wouldn't want him to turn out like Filch."

"Filch should never have been hired at Hogwarts. It was bad enough that he was totally unsuited to working with or near children and a miserable bastard but he is the only squib adult that a lot of wizarding children even know and it gives them a very negative idea of what their life could be" Hadrian said angrily. "Filch is a miserable man who hates children, he would have been a miserable wizard who hates children if he had magic. It's not being a squib that made him the way he was, it's being treated like he's barely human because he doesn't have magic."

"But what do you think Harry would Franklin or Ellison be better off in the muggle world if one of them is a squib and the other isn't?" Hannah pressed.

"No child is ever better off being without their parents Hannah" Hadrian said fiercely. "It would be even worse if he knew that they were alive and just didn't want him." He got up and walked away. A few minutes later they could see him flying his broom low amongst the waves.

"Hadrian is right" Tim said watching his husband worriedly. "The knowledge that you weren't wanted, that you weren't good enough for your parents to keep, especially while they kept your sibling would harm a child for the rest of their life."

-o0o-

Hadrian had calmed down by the time he joined them for dinner, but Neville and Tim monopolised the conversation for the rest of the evening keeping to general topics and Neville asking about Jimmy who he'd become quite friendly with at the wedding. Tim told a couple of stories of cases he'd worked lately that weren't classified, and Neville reciprocated and they ended up in a discussion of forensic evidence. Neville admitted that they tended to ignore the physical evidence that can be easily faked by magic in favour of magical signature residues. Tim spoke of his frustration that when magical cases spilled over into the nonmagical world the Aurors tended to fake some of the physical evidence themselves to justify arresting the person they magically knew was responsible."

"Yes but wizards are capable of spelling away the physical evidence and you wouldn't want someone to get away with it just because they had magic. The nonmagical trial is mostly for show anyway, as soon as they're arrested they're transferred to a magical prison and have a magical trial. If their found innocent by the magical courts charges will probably be dropped in your courts as well unless there is genuine physical evidence."

"What happens about sentencing?" Tim asked.

"They go by the magical prison sentence" Hadrian replied. "Don't worry, because there's no parole in the magical system they serve at least as long as they would've served with their non-magical sentences. Besides even in our country prisons only just meet the international amnesty minimum standards. In Britain, the prison is a centuries old fortress without any weather control charms on an island in the north sea, the cells are cold and dank, with one small barred window open to the elements and prisoners are allowed out to shower once a month. And that's before you get to the guards. British prisons are guarded by dementors, soul sucking demons who remove all warmth and happiness from the air and make you relive your worst moments when they're nearby. Very few people leave maximum security of Azkaban alive let alone sane."

Tim shuddered. "It's a good thing then that witches and wizards have better ways of making sure that the person sentenced is actually guilty" he said.

"Except that the whole bloody government was so corrupt that my godfather spent twelve years in maximum security for something he hadn't done without even the pretence of a trial" Hadrian growled. "Even after he died saving my life when I was fifteen he still wasn't publicly cleared for years."

"Who was your godfather Harry?" Hannah asked curiously.

"Sirius Black" Hadrian replied.

Hannah gave a little shriek, "But…"

Neville covered his wife's mouth before she could speak. "He's innocent remember" he said firmly.

"Are the regular prisons warded to prevent a wizard from escaping if we don't find out a suspect or convicted criminal is magical?" Tim asked.

Hadrian looked thoughtful, "I doubt it" he said. "You'd have to ward all the police station lockups all over the country. The FBI lockups are and probably the big city lockups where we've had cases but not every little sheriff's office across the country. But if you think you want a lockup warded or a perp tested for magic you can call me and I'll either come or send someone."

"Do many witches and wizards live in the muggle world where you live?" Hannah asked surprised.

"Yes, more than half do, it helps that we don't have our own currency and we've managed to get electronics to work around magic and the schools use portkeys to send the kids home at night so if you were into a sport or learning to play an instrument or something you can still do that and still keep in touch with your muggle friends and family" Hadrian described. "There's no separate wizarding fashion or music and the distances involved make a floo network impractical so kids use muggle transport other than portkeying to and from school. There really isn't a separate wizarding world."

Hannah and Neville looked shocked at the idea and Hadrian thought this would be a good time to leave them to think it through. "I'm exhausted, I think I'll head to bed" he said. "Night Guys, see you tomorrow."

"Night Neville, goodnight Hannah" Tim said getting up.

"Night Harry, night Tim" Neville replied.

"Goodnight" Hannah said. "Sleep well."

-o0o-

"You know this works well having guests on a different time clock so we still get time alone" Tim said cheerfully as they sat down to breakfast as a family the next day.

"Yeah it's been good to see Nev but it's good to have time on our own too. I frequently feel like I spend half my time with them justifying my lifestyle and my decisions or teaching them that wizarding Britain isn't the whole wizarding world. It feels like a lot of work sometimes."

"Yeah but once they understand things will get easier" Tim said encouragingly. "And if they can go home and talk to others how the rest of the world isn't like Britain it will make a difference. The sort of difference Kingsley wanted to make by sending you to America to learn about the rest of the world."

"Well I've certainly chosen the right woman for that" Hadrian said laughing. She was one of the biggest gossips in our year and unlike Lavender people actually listen and believe her."

Tim laughed. "She means well even if it does feel like she comes from another planet half the time."

"Or another century" Hadrian said. "The British and European wizarding worlds went into hiding in the 1600s at the time of the witch burnings but unlike the rest of the world they never reintegrated and for some reason their morals and customs stagnated, new ideas weren't trusted."

"She's like the Amish" Tim said thoughtfully. "Or one of those super conservative religious cults that isolate themselves from the evil modern world."

"Like an Amish child perhaps, the adults mostly know at least something about the world they've chosen to reject" Hadrian said.

"But you weren't that bad, sure there were things I was surprised you didn't know or hadn't seen but.." Tim trailed off unsure what else to say without insulting Hades' friends.

"I grew up in the muggle world until I was eleven, sure I spent a lot of time in the cupboard but I knew that the world was out there. Wizarding children are rarely taken out of the house until they're none or ten and then only into the all wizarding towns and enclaves. It is entirely possible that neither Neville nor Hannah have ever seen a car or a house with electric lights or a telephone, let alone TV and computers other than when Neville came to our wedding" Hadrian said.

"Maybe we should update the house and install a theatre room so we can show them some movies and stuff next time" Tim suggested.

"You'd be willing to give up a week here on our own to have them come again?" Hadrian asked.

"Yeah it's important to keep up with your friends. You encouraged me to keep in touch with mine" Tim replied hugging him.

-o0o-

Neville and his family eventually woke up and breakfasted before joining Tim, Hadrian and the children on the beach. Today Hadrian was sitting with the baby while Tim was showing Teddy the creatures in the rockpools.

"It's nice that you and Tim share looking after the baby" Hannah said.

"It helps that she's bottle fed so both of us could feed her right from day one" Hadrian replied. "It's been really great having the time off to spend with her but part of me is looking forward to being back at work in an adult environment."

Hannah nodded. "I don't want to go back to work but I do love leaving the kids with my Mum and going shopping and out to lunch with Susan and my friends."

"What did you do for work? I'm sorry I don't remember" Hadrian asked.

"I worked in the Floo regulation office. I don't know if you forgot or never knew in the first place, it was okay but it's pretty boring so I didn't talk about my work much" Hannah said forgivingly.

"Was there something you would have liked to do?" Hadrian asked.

"No not really. I love children and always wanted to be a mother" Hannah replied.

Hadrian nodded. "I always wanted a family of my own but I like going out to work too. I'm just lucky we have such great help in Tollie. Before Teddy came to live with us I didn't think I'd want an elf, I liked cooking and buying fresh foods at the market and looking after Tim and our flat but I don't know where I'd be without them now."

"I couldn't look after Longbottom house by myself" Hannah said horrified.

"No, I couldn't look after our house and this one by myself either but it was fun to share the chores and cook together, Tim and I used to live in a small one bedroom flat. Even without magic I could have cleaned it in an hour."

"What are Tim and Neville doing?" Hannah asked as they dropped out of sight among the rocks.

"There's a good size rock pool there for learning to swim. Tim was talking about trying to teach Teddy" Hadrian replied. Tim had also wanted to teach Hades once he found out that his husband couldn't swim without something called Gillyweed, but that was something Hadrian wanted to learn in private. Tim had promised him a lesson tomorrow morning before the Longbottoms got up, while Rosie was napping and Teddy was with Tollie.

Over in the rockpool Neville cast buoyancy charms on Franklin and offered to cast them on Teddy.

"No, it's better that he learns how the pool feels without them. I can't cast them and if he gets a false confidence from the charms he might try to swim on his own and get himself into danger.

"His accidental magic would probably save him if he did fall in" Neville said. "Especially since he's already shown signs."

"I don't want to depend on it though, what if it doesn't?" Tim said.

"You should get Harry to ward the pool so children can't get into it without an adult if your so worried. That's what we did with the pond at home" Neville suggested.

"Hadrian had the whole beach warded like that before we came" Tim said. "But if we're already in the beach he could be here in seconds. He needs to learn to swim if we're going to spend a lot of time here. He's very independent, he likes to be able to do things on his own. He hates running into the magical barriers. Could his accidental magic find a way through the ward?"

"I've never heard of a child doing that, but I'd be a lot more concerned about Rosie, Harry's magic often did the impossible when we were in school" Neville replied. "Did you magically or blood adopt Teddy?"

"No Hades didn't want to take Remus and Tonks' place like that" Tim replied.

"Then you don't have to worry about him having Harry's crazy magic. The wards will be enough to keep him safe" Neville reassured him.

Teddy loved the water and quickly learned to hold his breath and put his face under without fear. Hadrian had cast charms on his eyes so the salt water wouldn't sting. The pool wasn't more than waist deep on Tim with a rough stone bottom and uneven edge so Tim couldn't throw Teddy up in the air as he would in a swimming pool, but he made a game of letting him go and encouraging him to paddle a few feet to him and then swooshing him through the water. Teddy was soon paddling around the pool independently as Tim hovered within catching distance in case something went wrong. Franklin was more timid and happy to cling to Neville as he bounced him in the water and encouraged him to kick and paddle, but he was still having fun. Both boys were relishing being the centre of their fathers' attention as much as the sunshine and the water.

The two babies were fed and taken back to the house by Tollie for their naps and Hannah and Hadrian joined the others.

"Papa look, me swim on my own" Teddy yelled leaving Tim and swimming towards Hadrian.

Hadrian hurried forwards and caught him as he was about to go under. "Great job Teddy do you like swimming?" he asked. "do you want to swim back to Daddy"

"Yes" Teddy said. Hadrian let him go and he paddled back to Tim.

Hannah joined Neville, a little self-conscious about the way her bathing suit clung to her when it was wet leaving her feeling both exposed and uncomfortably covered in cold wet fabric. She was relieved to see that Tim and Harry weren't paying her any attention, focused on each other and Teddy.

Franklin was glad to see his mother and clung to her tightly. Neville leaned over and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "He likes the water but he doesn't want to be let go" he said quietly.

"Is he warm enough" Hannah worried. "He loses heat a lot quicker than we do." But when she checked his skin seemed warm enough though they soon move to one of the smaller pools where he could sit in the six inches of water and play independently.

When Hadrian looked over at them later Franklin was happily splashing his parents who were ignoring him for the moment to exchange light kisses. Hadrian grinned happy for his friend and leaned in to give Tim a kiss while they weren't looking.

-o0o-

A/N: Thank you to Rori Potter, Kaorilamb, Carl-the-strange, lilly-flower15, Kourtney Uzu Yato, Locket1, xDarklightx, mayawene, Gracie15Trowa, Firehedgehog, Poisonsnake23, charm13insomnia, SpiritBlackPaw, mumimeanjudy, buterflypuss, DS2010, .9, acherongoddess, serenityselena, DarkRavie, Village-Mystic, Merlenyn, kimbarn30, Silvermane1, julschristine975, asdf (Guest), DevilishAngel666, Falow53 (Guest), Maben00, Reader Ethiriel, lia (Guest), gabrieljuarezl, LadyDrak75, cilia-chan, Jdl (Guest), AlixMM, veyronking995, Kimpatsu no Hoseki, PLF94, deludedfool, Abriekayua, GordonTM, Hornbugv, Blackkitten23, Sekhmet Malfoy, shadowhisper7460, Mundanealumne, Sapphire Quill, WLMNA, moonlitterrace, JES81, Lupawolf67, ob1292, ksx6, Dusk11, yosemitegal, shadowwolf89, HPMonsterbookworm88, Guide of souls, TWLOHA26, Serafin333, natsunathylem, creven16, Misao-chan9970, ShadowWorldOfSpies, Aire5, maypleberry, royalcloud12, brokendreamer49, Crafty Beth, wickedlfairy17, king Trell, BloodyRiley, MarvinMartian009, ShadowWolfLuna, holymanga, angeloneofakind, midnightstorm111, NCIS2011, Kinscem, bella cullen the original, Ashy3, constantine86, Tammarainia, Tiamac7, GarfieldMSB, SmallSpider, a5morgan55, Nyx2029, sharlieanne, RubinRed, HJP 92, , SSGRet, njbethany, Ianahkal, Goddess of the Black Rose, Jessalynvix, loralee1, FatalTaru, NerysRhys, Karasu-archer, rcb3130, MadLAB, simsus, Jemmachani, skyefire, harrisonlynne2, lunyoha, Archangel N. Bloodraven, Midge101, britneylou, Nzingha28, Shinigami' .Shadow, XxRahzelxX, Pawesome Sauce, moonskip, Saria0912, cruhl, fluffy24, Gundam of Death, potter8668, ChocolateRedVelvet and Onyx2012 for your support.


	47. Chapter 47

Chapter 47

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or NCIS or any of their characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do NOT give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

-o0o-

"Are there people on this island?" Hannah asked surprised at seeing the sailboats out on the water.

"Yes roughly 67,000 live on the island permanently but the property is warded for privacy. The people on the boats can't see us" Hadrian replied.

"67,000 people, that's more people than in Britain" Hannah said.

Tim looked at her in shock.

"More that wizarding Britain. There are more than 64 million people in muggle Britain" Hadrian said gently.

"Muggles outnumber us by 1,000 to one?" Neville looked frightened for a moment.

"Yeah, it's more likely somewhere between 500 to 700 to one in most parts of the world that haven't followed the pureblood ideology, but in Britain it's 1,000 to one and the difference is growing with every generation" Hadrian confirmed.

From the numbers Hadrian has given me, the purebloods in Britain are going to breed themselves out of existence in the next hundred years. There aren't enough of them to maintain their cultural diversity unless they stop marrying relatives and either marry halfbloods, muggleborns, or foreigners" Tim said.

"So you think Neville shouldn't have married me?" Hannah asked affronted.

"That depends on how many generations you can go back before you find a common ancestor" Tim said.

"We can both see that Neville loves you, Tim's not questioning the success of your marriage. Tim's talking about the increased risk of one of your children having a genetic problem if you're related too closely."

"What difference does that make?" Hannah asked.

"They don't study basic biology at Hogwarts let alone genetics" Hadrian reminded Tim when he looked at them in total shock.

"The more closely two parents are related the higher the risk of the children having genetic abnormality, mental retardation, genetic illnesses and probably some squibs are caused inbreeding" Tim explained.

"There are no Abbots in the Longbottom family tree" Neville replied.

"But what about your mother's and grandmothers' and Hannah's mother's and grandmothers' families?" Hadrian replied. "Genetic family history isn't just patriarchal. No matter how the British wizarding world thinks. You may not inherit family names and titles from your mother's side if she has brothers but you do still inherit half your genetic makeup from each parent."

Tim looked shocked again, "the wizarding world seriously doesn't know that?" he asked.

"No in their world it's legal for half siblings to marry if it's the mother they have in common but not if they share a father. It's also frowned upon if they grew up in the same house but given that fathers are almost exclusively granted custody in a divorce, as rare as they are, and if the child is the heir of a house it isn't that unusual for them to be taken in by the regent and his family if the mother remarries, it does happen" Hadrian replied. "They also allow first cousins to marry which also mostly happens with cousins related though one of their mothers."

"No wonder their world is seriously screwed up" Tim replied.

"Hannah got up with a huff and went to join Teddy and Franklin who were playing in the sand just out of earshot of the adult conversation.

"Sorry" Tim apologised to Neville.

"Don't be, unless you were lying about the genetics thing" Neville replied.

"I wasn't. That's what happened to a lot of the European royal families. They all believed in marrying princesses and got so inter-related that many of them developed Haemophilia, an illness where the blood doesn't clot. In extreme cases before they had a treatment for it, it would've been possible to bleed to death from a minor cut or bruise. There's also an argument that more than a few of them weren't quite mentally up to ruling and the kingdoms were actually being run by their advisors. Insanity and unexplained deaths were also fairly common."

"A lot of the Longbottom income comes from farming Neville, talk to your managers about it. They'll be able to explain why they spend so much money on stud fees to ensure that the bull isn't related to the cows. And that's for something that only has to be smart enough to eat the grass for a year or two before being slaughtered." Harry said. "Dog and Horse breeders are far more particular. Have a look at the stud books they keep and ask them why they're so careful not to inbreed."

Neville nodded thoughtfully. "Thanks Harry." He took off after his wife and the two families spent the next couple of hours doing their own things.

-o0o-

Hannah chattered on when they met up again taking charge of the conversation so it couldn't stray into areas she didn't want to think about. Gossiping about various old classmates. Still she couldn't help having a dig at Hadrian by attacking his friends.

"Ron's lost his job" Hannah said. "He's working with his brother."

"How'd he lose his job?" Hadrian asked more curious than concerned.

"He roughed up a suspect because they were Slytherin and they turned out to be innocent" Neville said. "It was his last straw. Robbard's had warned him more than once. I'm sorry Harry I couldn't do anything for him."

"That's okay Nev, he did it to himself. As you said he was warned and he knew the consequences" Harry said. "Has Hermione gone back to work?"

"No, they've been fighting about it. Ron doesn't want his wife working" Hannah said. "He doesn't earn as much working for his brother and Hermione thought it would be better if she goes back to work to make ends meet. Ron's mum would be happy to look after the baby but Ron's ego couldn't handle the idea of not being able to support his family. Hermione hates being a stay at home mum and now Ron's no longer an Auror he's given her a limit on what she's allowed to spend on books. So she's even more pissed off. She doesn't come out much anymore"

"What's the baby like?" Hadrian asked.

"Oh she's a little darling, big blue eyes and strawberry blond curls and the cheekiest smile. She's a really happy baby, Hermione has no idea how lucky she is" Hannah gushed. "She just sits up in her pram and looks around. Funny thing is her name's Rose too."

Hadrian laughed. "Yeah I got the letter telling me that about a month after our Rosie was born. I hadn't told her about Rosie yet, it's just a coincidence."

"Have Fred and George got enough work for Ron or have they taken him on just to do him a favour until he finds another job?" Hadrian asked.

"They're doing really well, planning to open a second shop in Hogsmeade but neither wants to move up there to run it, they like living and working together a little too much if you know what I mean. George is supposedly dating Alicia and Fred Angelina, but rumour has it they swap around and they're both dating both girls. Nobody knows for sure whether the girls know or not."

"If they're swapping on Angelina then the girls know. She's one of the few people that can nearly always tell the two of them apart and there's no way she'd let them do that to Alicia" Hadrian replied.

"Any way Ron works mostly out the back because he's not good with customers, too short tempered. Ginny's real pissed at them because they refused to hire her. The twins won't even let her in the shop because they say she's bad for business."

"But working out back means making the pranks and Ron's terrible at potions. His enchanting skills aren't that hot either" Hadrian said.

"That's the hilarious thing. Not many people know this but Hermione makes potions for the twins from home while Ron's at work and they pay Ron the money she earns along with the small amount they pay him to pack the mail orders and stock the shelves when they close each night" Hannah said laughing cattily. "Ron thinks he's the man, supporting his family when Hermione's really earning the money. Still she was earning a lot more at the ministry so they'd be better off if she went back to work properly."

"But if Hermione's spending all day making potions, who's looking after the baby?" Tim asked.

"Hermione does. Mrs Weasley has her one afternoon a week when Hermione does the really tricky potions, other than that she looks after her between steps, like I said luckily she's the most placid baby."

"How did you find out?" Hadrian asked knowing Hermione wouldn't have confided in her.

"I saw either Fred or George going to her flat when I knew Ron was at work. At first I thought nothing of it but after a couple of days seeing him at the same time I followed him."

"You know that he'll punish Hermione or stop her from doing it if everyone finds out, don't you?" Neville said firmly.

"I won't tell anyone" Hannah agreed. "I don't know how they're paying rent on their flat as it is. They'd be in real trouble if Ron wasn't getting paid for those potions."

"They don't rent their flat. It was a wedding present" Hadrian said offhandedly.

"Wow! They haven't told anyone that" Hannah said surprised.

Hadrian shrugged, "I didn't do it for the recognition. I know Ron would have trouble accepting what he sees as charity though I didn't mean it that way. I just wanted them to have their own place."

"Ginny is…" Hannah began.

"I don't think Harry wants to hear about Ginny" Neville interrupted.

-o0o-

"You stopped Hannah telling me about Ginny earlier, why?" Harry asked Neville once they were alone.

"Hannah was looking for ways to get under your skin after you suggested that we might be too closely related for marrying each other to be sensible. She would've presented what's happening with Ginny in the worst possible light and then insinuated that it was your fault."

"Do I even want to know what's going on with Ginny?"

"You probably should because I'd expect it's stopping Ron and the others from getting over you breaking your engagement to her" Neville said. "If I were you I'd be wary of any Weasley, don't agree to be alone with them Harry."

"What Ginny chose to do has nothing to do with me" Harry replied.

"It's bad Harry, nobody will employ her and a lot of people have stopped inviting her to their parties, originally it was because of you but now it's because she always gets drunk and creates a scene. She was dating Dean again for a while but now she's dating some quidditch player from France who according to the papers has a wife at home. She still tells people that you're engaged and she's waiting for you to come home from assignment but nobody believes her. There were rumours that you left her pregnant but she hasn't had a baby so then there were rumours that she had an abortion"

"If she had an abortion the baby wasn't mine, and to be honest I doubt she did" Hadrian replied calmly. "She did try to tell her brothers she was expecting my baby so they'd force me to marry her but we never had sex. We didn't even come close and she didn't seem disappointed. She was more physically affectionate in front of her friends than she was when we were alone. Does Hannah take her side?"

"Merlin no! Hannah gets really bitchy about her. Sometimes when she's been drinking she starts flirting with every man in the room. Hannah came back from the bathroom one night and caught me trying to fend her off. Thank Godric Hannah could see that I was trying to get away from her and didn't blame me. She marched across pulled her off me and bitch slapped her so hard she fell over then took my hand and dragged me home to bed."

Hadrian grinned. "Good night?" he teased his friend.

Neville blushed, which was answer enough.

"Ginny can't upset me anymore. The only reaction I had from hearing that was to be glad I don't have to be there to deal with it" Hadrian said honestly. "I'd almost thank that bastard who cursed me for helping to open my eyes and see the truth about her."

"Only almost?" Neville asked watching the way Hadrian kept checking on the little girl asleep in his husband's arms.

"No, I'd thank him. But that wouldn't stop me from having him charged, he wasn't doing it to help me" Hadrian replied.

-o0o-

"You know I was surprised that Harry invited me to his wedding" Neville said to Tim one day they were walking in the gardens.

"Weren't you close friends at school?" Tim asked.

"We shared a dorm, and we were always friendly but he was closer to Hermione and the Weasleys" Neville said. "Then when he moved away I thought he would drop all contact with all of us."

"Well I understand his problems with keeping contact with the Weasleys, but he does still write to Hermione" Tim replied.

"Yet she has no idea even what country he's living in" Neville said.

"Neither does Hannah" Tim warned.

"Yeah I realised that you were being purposefully vague about that" Neville said. "And I understand in Hannah's case, Harry doesn't know her very well other than her being my wife and she is a terrible gossip at times. But he used to trust Hermione with everything."

"But now Hermione's magically married to Ron and I know Hadrian was upset about how old fashioned and one-sided the wedding vows were. And then there's that biography. Hermione had to have known Hadrian would hate it. It damaged his trust in her."

"Yeah and it cost her a lot of other friends too. Between the people who are angry with her for doing that to Harry and the people who disagree with things she has written and those who are afraid of what she'd write about them If she writes another book she wasn't too popular at parties for quite a while. People stopped inviting her places and with her work she didn't really care at the time but now she's home with the baby she's very isolated."

"Tell me more about wedding vows. I know Hades was very careful to discuss our vows and make sure I was happy with all of them" Tim asked.

"Well you do know that when a wizard makes their vows their own magic will strongly encourage them to keep them and they can lose their magic if they do break them?" Neville said anxiously.

"Yes" Tim replied. "Hadrian wasn't sure that it would work like that with me because my magic is bound but he made sure that I knew it was possible."

"Hermione and Ron used the old vows. Apparently, they're traditional in the muggle world too but almost no witch would agree to use them these days, I'm not sure if Hermione realised that her magic would force her to keep her vows quite as strictly as they do. Perhaps nobody warned her because she's the sort to research everything to death and thought she would already know" Neville said sadly. "She always did get too caught up in her work and studies but her heart was in the right place and she never once turned her back on Harry at school when almost everyone else did, even Ron."

"So, Ron knows that she must obey his every command no matter how much she disagrees?" Tim asked.

"He's possibly thick enough not to realise how unhappy he's making her but I believe that if he did tell Hermione to publish that book he has to know she probably only did it to obey him" Neville said thoughtfully. "I don't know if he knew how much power those vows would give him over her before the wedding or not."

-o0o-

Their week together came to an end and Neville, Hannah and their children planned to leave straight after lunch.

"This has been a great week Harry. Thanks for inviting us" Neville said.

"It's been good to catch up, and to get to know Hannah and the kids" Hadrian replied smiling.

"Nice to get to know you a bit better too Harry" Hannah said smiling. "And Tim and the children. They're great kids. You're a good father."

"Franklin is a great kid too" Tim said smiling. "I'm glad you brought him with you. I really don't know what Ellison's personality will be, but he's a little cutie."

"I think he's going to be a little daredevil like Teddy" Neville said. "He has no fear."

Hadrian laughed. "My advice is to keep him busy and give him safe ways to be active and explore his environment" he said. "And then a playgroup or something where he can play with kids his own age."

"But you said that wizarding children are kept at home until they're nine or ten" Hannah protested.

"Muggles run playgroups and kindergym programs for children from Ellison's age in nearly every town in Britain" Hadrian said. "There's no good reason not to join one of them, it would be good for Franklin too."

"But what about the statute of secrecy?"

"Children have vivid imaginations. Nobody will take anything he says as evidence that magic really exists" Tim replied.

"And if he performs accidental magic?"

"You said it yourself, most children don't perform accidental magic until at least eight or nine years old. And even if he does, I remember performing several acts of magic while at school and nobody paid attention. People just don't want to see what doesn't fit into their system of beliefs."

"Can I speak to Harry alone for a minute?" Neville asked.

Hannah and Tim both nodded and moved off a little with the children.

"Harry. I have had a great time and I'm glad we came but I need to know. Did you have an ulterior motive in inviting one of the biggest gossips in Hogwarts and telling us all this stuff?" Neville asked, refusing to look at his friend.

"Neville, no! We just wanted to catch up with you, and any long-term friendship between us needs to include Hannah. She's your wife and we wanted to get to know her and the kids" Hadrian protested. "And most of the things we needed to explain just came up. I'll admit it would be great if Hannah talks about some of the issues about the British wizarding world. Having more people out there thinking about these things and talking about them might help, Neville. And we both know that that Britain needs the help to pull itself back in line with the rest of the world before it breeds another wanna be dark lord. But that wasn't why we invited you, we want our friendship to last and that means understanding and accepting the differences between the worlds we come from. Tim and I have lived together for nearly three years without a lot of these topics coming up because I'm not pureblood. I was raised outside the wizarding world and missed a lot of the differences because I was fighting so hard just to survive and to hide how I was treated at home" Hadrian stopped rambling and took a deep breathe trying to find a way to explain why Tim questioned so many things Neville and Hannah took for granted.

"If you think about all the times you needed something explained about the nonmagical world this week, and then think about me and Hermione arriving in your world as eleven year old's surrounded by people like Malfoy who sneered at us and insulted us for asking questions, expecting us to just know about your culture. All the things we needed explanations for that we either never got or got explained by Ron who didn't understand why we didn't know. Hermione could have given you most of this information, or Hannah's friend Justin is a muggleborn. They're just conditioned from the start not to talk about the nonmagical world. Tim hasn't had to grow up with that prejudice so he speaks his mind and questions the things that don't make sense to him. That's all. Neville, I'll swear on my magic that our friendship is genuine if you want me to."

"No Harry I believe you" Neville said smiling sheepishly at his friend. "Maybe next year you can come to Guernsey to visit us."

"I'd like that Neville, if you have enough security to have me there" Hadrian replied.

-o0o-

Tim and Hadrian decided to stay in Hawaii until sunset before packing up, arriving back home at 0100 and then have Tim and Hadrian use the time turner to turn back enough hours so Tim could recover from the portkey and get some sleep before he returned to work. As soon as Neville and his family left they put both children down for naps and left Tollie in charge, asking her not to disturb them unless it was an emergency. They ran down the beach out of sight of the house with a blanket and casting sunscreen charms and sand repelling charms they stripped off making love in the sunshine.

Once they'd rested, Tim remembered his promise to teach Hadrian to swim and they made their way to the rockpools to discover the joys of skinny dipping with someone they loved. Hadrian didn't learn to swim but no longer did he associate the idea with the freezing cold Black lake and the terrifying realisation that his friend's life depended on his non-existent ability to swim down to the bottom of the lake and rescue him. Instead for the rest of his life mention of the word swimming led to memories of he and Tim teasing each other in the warm safe rock pool.

"We didn't end up trying the day bed on the porch" Hadrian said remembering the plans they'd made.

"Something to look forward to next time" Tim said smiling.

Hadrian grinned.

"Are you going to talk to Quincy about putting in electricity and a theatre room?" Tim asked.

"Yeah, if we're going to be spending time there I want you to be able to work the lights. I vote we leave the kitchen alone and depend on the elves to cook those wonderful meals though" Hadrian replied.

"Definitely, you deserve a holiday from cooking too" Tim agreed. "And the local food was superb."

"It will prevent you from ever inviting your team here" Hadrian warned. "The elves here don't have the ability to pass themselves off as human."

"Is it a spell they could be taught?" Tim asked.

"The glamour to look human would be easy enough to teach, it's the behaviour and remembering not to use magic in sight of nonmagical people that's the problem. It would take years for them to learn" Hadrian replied.

"That's okay, it's nice to have a place away from them" Tim said. "And even if we offered them accommodation the flights are pretty expensive and most of them have other plans for their vacations."

-o0o-

"Where'd you go for your vacation McTan?" Tony asked grinning when Tim walked in to work the next morning.

"Hawaii" Tim replied. "Hadrian owns a house there that he wanted to see."

"With a private beach?" Jimmy asked, having seen Tim and Hadrian's houses in DC and Boston.

"Yes the beach was nice. The house needs a bit of repair work, it's only been maintained enough to keep it waterproof at the moment, so it was a bit like camping out in a house with the old gas lighting and wood fired stove. Teddy loved it" Tim replied.

"Secluded enough for an all over tan?" Tony asked waggling his eyebrows.

"Tony, we took the kids. This was a family holiday" Tim said wearily.

"So you guys still haven't had a honeymoon?" Jimmy asked surprised.

"No but it's fine Jimmy we took our new nanny so we had plenty of time alone. Neither of us want to leave the kids for a whole week anyway" Tim said smiling at his friend reassuringly. "Neville and his family met us there for most of the week. He said to say hello."

"You didn't say if the beach was secluded" Tony insinuated.

"Yes Tony, the beach is secluded enough for you to get a sunburnt dick if you can talk Hadrian into lending the house to you for a day or two" Tim remarked snidely. "Hadrian and I however have better uses for our dicks than to find out how much they could hurt."

Ziva burst out laughing. "That's the most crude thing I've ever heard you say" she said.

"Glad to hear it McGee, now get back to work all of you" Gibbs barked, having arrived with a new cup of coffee in time to hear Tony's final question and Tim's answer. He slapped the back of Tim and Tony's heads lightly.

"Thank you boss" Tony replied facetiously.

-o0o-

Abby had returned to work the day Tim and Hadrian left for their holiday and had been quite put out not to have heard from any of the team in the month she'd been off.

Director Shepard had been quite severe with her in their appointment at the start of her first day back, letting her know she was on probation and if she failed to treat any agent professionally and prioritise her work solely on the importance and urgency of the case being investigated instead of favouring Gibbs team she would be reallocated possibly to the Seattle office one of the few satellite offices that did all their own forensics. Director Sheppard had also let Abby know that all of the teams had been very happy with the temporary forensic scientist who'd replaced her and most of them would prefer that Abby be reallocated now instead of given another chance, and that there would be no intervention to save her position here at headquarters if she didn't follow the rules and behave professionally towards all agents, NCIS and other agencies working joint cases.

With Tim away the MCRT were working cold cases so she hadn't seen any of them down in her lab and one of her new rules was a ban on visiting the bullpen and accosting the agents. Hugging was also now on the banned list unless the agent gave her specific permission to hug them every time. Abby was surprised and hurt that when she asked, Ducky, Jimmy and her friends on the other teams had all refused to give her permission. Some of them told her that she hugged too hard and it often hurt them to be hugged by her. She was sure Gibbs would let her hug him, but then he hadn't been down to bring her Cafpow all week.

Tim was back today but she had no desire to go up to the bullpen and see him. Still that meant the team would be back in rotation and Gibbs would have a reason to come down and visit her.

A/N: Thank you to veyronking995, buterflypuss, xDarklightx, SpiritBlackPaw, Locket1, charm13insomnia, Gottahavemyncis, Kaorilamb, Rori Potter, DarkRavie, lilly-flower15, dobbys-stinger, Firehedgehog, Kimpatsu no Hoseki, asdf (Guest), Maben00, DS2010, Kourtney Uzu Yato, acherongoddess, Merlenyn, Silvermane1, kimbarn30, Village-Mystic, serenityselena, lia (Guest), mayawene, PercyJacksonROCKS4ever, Fallow53 (Guest), Lw117149 (Guest), Martionmanswife, .9, Guest, Antujoannas, Valgal37, minxjewel, veneno, claw06, DragonBloodSky, Yllanya, RAD092515, ShamieLove214, Flame150, Slate Grey, Shadic Kitsune Ebonwood, zoisyte, anilass44, Skywillow, pez304, BlindBardRLB, CheezieBacon, panth13, dawnk553, silverspun, Ri Granger Potter, prince0904, Hiraeth Ianevski, Hesperis, WerewolfLover13, angeleyes24245, thexemerald, Lieselotte19, jjrocx, Pawesome Sauce, Joanna-T, potter8668, Magsheather, Nekoka6069, Theatre Ninja, silverblade243, nolsoee, mariojackson, Heala, pipper11, Asbeth, Menoly, msmith, Lunatics Revenge, kymickeyfan717, scholarbard, harry'stardisonbakerstreet, CatGirl04, Mybraindevourersyourstories, madbrat, Confused Interests, JuicyGeek, Shanon Nakayama, whindman, The Sleeping Death, akatsukipheonix, Bast14, Iniesetsu, zizike. Jenniebennie, miaserafina, Renegade Storm and alien164 for your support.


	48. Chapter 48

Chapter 48

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or NCIS or any of their characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do NOT give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

-o0o-

"You look so tan" Susan said enviously. "Did you have a nice holiday? Did you go to your family's place in Guernsey?"

"No, I'm not sure where the island was but it was a lot more tropical" Hannah replied.

"Why didn't you go to Guernsey? You love it there" Megan Jones asked.

"Neville wanted to see Harry" Hannah replied trying to sound casual.

"Harry Potter?" Megan screeched.

"Yes" Hannah replied giggling.

"Oh my God!" Megan squealed.

"Keep your voice down" Susan said. "When's he coming home?"

"I don't think he is" Hannah replied. "Not for years at any rate. He loves where he is."

"So he's not coming home to marry Ginny Weasley?" Leanne said sounding pleased.

"I'd love living on a tropical island too" Wayne Hopkins said enviously.

"Oh he doesn't live there. He was on holiday too" Hannah said. "He wouldn't tell us where he lives."

"He probably knew you'd tell everyone" Susan said.

"Yeah, he admitted it. He said he didn't want anyone coming after his family" Hannah admitted. "Did you know he was getting attacked nearly every time he went out on his own before he left. He was sent away to keep him safe."

"Wait, you said family!" Susan said surprised.

"Yeah he has custody of his godson" Hannah said not knowing how to mention Rosie without talking about Tim. Talking about Teddy was fairly safe, even before he left it was obvious that Harry had doted on his godson and if she slipped and mentioned Rosie the others would think she meant Harry's best friends' child, Rose Weasley.

"Did he say anything about where he lives?" Megan asked.

"Harry said he lives mostly in the muggle world. That most witches and wizards do where he is. They don't use galleons even the wizarding shops use muggle money, and their students learn muggle subjects at school. He said there really isn't a separate world at all and there are almost no purebloods. Nobody cares how many generations your family has had magic. He said he's never even been asked if he's pureblood or muggleborn."

"Of course he hasn't. He's Harry Potter everyone knows he's a half blood" Ernie MacMillan scoffed.

"No he said he's not famous like that there. That he can walk down the street and nobody takes any notice of him. He said he hasn't been in their newspaper since the week he killed 'You-Know-Who'. He said he really loves that" Hannah said.

"I would have thought he'd love the fame" Ernie said.

"No. Harry made me see that his fame came with constant scrutiny. Everybody thought they had the right to tell him how he should live his life and what they thought of everything he did. And he was still getting attacked by You-Know-Who's supporters. He was tired of it all. He says he's safer where he is" Hannah said soberly.

"So, he really isn't coming back" Susan said. "Or at least not until Teddy goes to Hogwarts in seven years."

"Probably not even then, he said he was going to enrol Teddy in school where he lives" Hannah said.

"He said their school taught muggle subjects as well and started younger so by the time Teddy is eleven he'll be beyond first year in a lot of subjects."

The others gave various loud exclamations of disbelief. "Is that even possible, most kids don't do accidental magic until they're nine or ten" Ernie retorted.

"He says it is, they do a lot more non wand subjects in the first few years, latin, runes, arithmancy, herbology, potions and magical theory" Hannah said shrugging.

They saw Draco Malfoy walk past sneering at them.

The boys all frowned but the girls had grabbed them to prevent them from reacting.

"You'll never believe what Harry told me about Malfoy" Hannah said.

"What?" Megan asked.

"He said Malfoy had four older siblings that died suspiciously a month or so after they turned eleven.

Apparently they didn't get a Hogwarts letter so the Malfoys got rid of them. Murdered their own children. Who would do that?" Hannah demanded.

Ernie looked down guiltily but the others looked shocked.

"What?" Susan asked appalled.

"Harry said it's fairly common practice here to kill squibs. He said that's why most people don't bring their children out in public until they've done magic" she gestured out to the alley where there were quite a few children out there that looked a year or two too young for Hogwarts and a few muggleborns with preschool aged children but very few others. Even those in their group who had a child hadn't brought them out with them.

"Harry said that was one of the reasons our population isn't growing. That a lot of squibs will have a magical child or grandchild if they marry another squib but here in Britain most squibs don't live long enough to have children."

"But what should we do with them? They can't be sent to the muggle world, they'd break the statute of secrecy"

"Would they? The boys can't do magic yet so nobody could prove they weren't just pretending. People would think that any mention of magic was just imaginary." Hannah said. "Harry was encouraging me to put Franklin and Ellison into a muggle kids group to play, or something called 'Kindigym'. He said that nobody would believe a child talking about magic, they would just think they were making it up or playing an imaginary game."

"And does Harry put his godson into these muggle plays?" Ernie asked.

"It's playgroup. A lot of churches and parenting organisations run them. It's a group of kids that are about the same age and you take your child to the group and meet other parents while your kids learn to play together" Justin explained.

"Yeah he does, though he's got to be a bit more careful. Teddy's already doing magic" Hannah replied. "And he has to take his metamorphmagus blocking potion to be out in the muggle world too."

"He can't be more than five" Ernie exclaimed incredulously.

"He's just turned four" Hannah replied. "Harry thought it was normal. He said his godfather told him he was already doing magic before his parents were killed."

"I can believe that, he's Harry Potter" Megan said dreamily. "But his godson shouldn't be doing magic yet. Did you see it?"

"No but I believe them" Hannah replied.

-o0o-

While Hannah was out with her Hufflepuff friends, Neville visited the Abbotts and asked to view their family tree.

"Of course you can, but why?" Lord Abbott asked.

"We spent our holiday with Harry and a muggle friend of his. Harry's friend is a scientist and he was telling me that it isn't just the paternal bloodlines that affect children. Most people do what you did and make sure the Longbottom and Abbott families hadn't intermarried in recent generations but you never asked me about my mother's family lines. Maybe you already knew them and I'm worried about nothing, but I'd like to see it for myself."

"Maternal lines don't count unless it's a matriarchal line and there's precious few of those these days" Lord Abbott said.

"Maybe in terms of inheritances of property and wealth but I look more like my mum than my dad, everyone says so. So, it's reasonable to assume that physically I inherited other things from my mother's side of the family, and my paternal grandmother's family too. Harry's scientist friend said that he thinks that's why so many more squibs are born in Britain because purebloods marry close relatives."

"We'll let's go and have a look, though it's a bit late to do anything about it" Lord Abbott agreed.

Neville pulled the parchment copy he'd made of the last five generations of his family tree, or as much of it as he could trace anyway, and compared the two. He asked Lady Abbott questions about her family and the dowager Lady Abbott also joined them and told him about her family too. Luckily, they didn't find any names in common which made Neville feel better though there were too many names missing for it to be conclusive, and with all his mother's family dead and his mother unable to interact with the world he didn't know how to even begin to fill in those blanks.

Hadrian had told him not to worry too much because as far as they could tell Franklin and Ellison were perfectly normal healthy intelligent little boys with no signs of congenital problems but he wouldn't truly stop worrying until they'd done magic. He had wanted another child, dreaming of having a little girl but now he wasn't so sure it was worth the risk. Hadrian had laughed when he said that and told him that as long as he could love the child it would be worth it.

-o0o-

It was his third day back at work before Tim had to go down to Abby's lab, and even then he wasn't alone. He Tony and Ziva arrived with boxes of evidence from their latest crime scene to be analysed for fingerprints and trace evidence.

"Hey Tony, Ziva, McGee" Abby greeted them.

"Hello Abby" Ziva replied. "This is all from Lieutenant Morris' bedroom. We need to know who else had been in there lately."

"Was he killed in the bedroom?" Abby asked.

"He was found in the walk-in wardrobe so all of his clothes are bagged and tagged in these boxes"

Tony replied. "Gibbs wants the bedroom processed first though. His wife is deployed but there were signs he may have had a mistress and Gibbs wants to know who it is."

"Well at least this time we can't go with Tony's favourite theory, 'the wife did it'" Ziva said.

"She could have, she could have used Voodoo" Abby suggested enthusiastically.

Tony chuckled a little.

"Ducky says the cause of death was stab wounds in the lower abdomen" Tim replied.

"We'll leave you to it Abby" Tony said as the three of them retreated upstairs to start digging into the victim's life.

Abby remained very cool and formal with Tim. It was obvious that she was still unhappy with him but Tim found that he didn't really care as long as she remained professional.

Jenny had warned Gibbs that bribing Abby with Cafpow to run his evidence before the other teams would no longer be tolerated.

He tried to argue that it wasn't a bribe and that the others were free to bring Abby a Cafpow when they bought their coffees too but Director Sheppard wouldn't budge. She informed him that that much Cafpow would probably constitute a serious health hazard, one that a federal agency couldn't be responsible for causing, and probably make the lab tech so jittery she couldn't effectively analyse anybody's evidence. Jenny had also assured Jethro that she had explained this and Abby understood that she would have to buy her own Cafpow. Unfortunately, Abby had not understood the way Gibbs and the Director thought she did. She'd been hurt at the time by the inference that Gibbs didn't buy her Cafpow out of pure affection, and then hurt again when Gibbs followed orders and stopped bringing her the drink. She didn't realise that the cooling of her relationship with Gibbs was mostly caused by his anger at the way she treated the rest of his team, so while she was still trying to blame others, at least at the moment she was blaming Director Sheppard not Tim for this problem and was able to maintain the professional relationship her new probation demanded.

-o0o-

Hadrian and Tim managed to hire a human assistant for Tollie who could take Teddy and Rosie to that park and take Teddy to preschool when it started. Barbara O'Neill was a retired grade school teacher whose father and husband had both been decorated police officers. Her elder sister and youngest child were magical but she was not. Judy was a no nonsense woman with a grandmotherly air and Teddy and Rosie both took to her straight away. Tollie herself didn't like the idea but she soon came around when she realised that Barbara wasn't taking over her duties so much as taking over the tasks Hadrian and Tim performed themselves when they were home.

Barbara was totally accepting of the relationship between Hadrian and Tim and the fact that her new charges had two Daddies and no Mommy and tried to step up to provide some of the feminine influences that the two men and the dedicated elf couldn't. She also didn't need to work full time financially and was happy to have extra time off when Tim and Hadrian were off and work extra hours when they were both busy on cases if it was needed and was willing to work weekends and take a couple of weekdays off instead to match Tim's erratic schedule.

-o0o-

Labour Day came and went and Hadrian returned to work. He spent the first week missing Teddy and Rosie incredibly and reading through all the incident reports that could potentially have foreign wizard involvement. Luckily, he didn't find any evidence of the Death Eaters operating along the East Coast of America and called through to the other regions to have their questionable cases forwarded to him. As a result he spent a week in California chasing up on an offender who turned out to be a British muggleborn who'd fled the war. In spite of having suffered the pureblood prejudice throughout his years at Hogwarts he had adopted the idea that wizards were superior to muggles and could be mistreated with impunity. Hadrian quickly disabused him of the notion arresting him and snapping magical suppression cuffs on him before handing him over to local authorities to charge. Hadrian settled into his new routine, taking the couple of classes he had left to get his GED and helping out with regular Auror duties when they were short-handed as well as keeping his ear to the ground for possible escaped death eaters. After a few weeks, he had to admit as much as he missed his children it was good to return to being Auror instead of just Daddy.

-o0o-

Hadrian and Tim had both taken leave for the day Teddy started preschool. They'd chosen to send him to the local public school to start with and it was a short walk from the house so Judy could take him and pick him up easily.

As a backup, Tim had researched private preschools in their area and found one with a reputation of tolerance for non-typical families in case they didn't receive a good reception at the public school. Neither man wanted their children to grow up feeling overly entitled spoilt brats and felt that public school was something they wanted to at least try even though neither had had good experiences with schools as children and were prepared to pull Teddy out at the first sign of bullying.

Tim and Hadrian decided to be in your face open about their relationship so if anyone had problems with them they'd show up before Teddy settled in enough to be upset if he had to change schools. They walked to the school hand in hand, Rosie in her baby carrier on Tim's chest and Teddy in the middle being swung along by his fathers.

They took Teddy in and helped him find the right cubbyhole for his bag and hook for his jacket before hugging him goodbye and sending him in to sit on the mat with the teacher and the other children. The teacher's assistant was standing by the door to answer questions and collect the paperwork allocating who was allowed to collect each child. After much thought, Tim and Hadrian had added Gibbs and Agent Clancy as well as Barbara to their list in case of emergencies. Teddy was use to the day care at Quantico a couple of times a week and he'd also spent some odd days in the day care at the Navy Yard so it would be familiar to him if Tim had to take him there in an emergency so even in this new place he was okay with his father's leaving him for a while. They'd promised to pick him up before lunch and take him for a picnic outside which he was looking forward to but for now he was eager to meet the other kids and have some fun.

Tim and Hadrian were shocked to see many of the women leaving the preschool clinging to each other with tears in their eyes. Another mom noticed them looking and explained. "Full time moms leaving their eldest or in many cases only child for the first time" she said. "You're lucky to have this little poppet to keep you busy this morning. Stop you from missing the other one so much."

"Hadrian and I both work, we're used to leaving them in day care" Tim replied.

"Which explains the lack of stress dropping him off but if you're not working today you're gonna miss the little tyke more than you expect, four hours can be a long time when you're waiting to see your kid again. Just be kind to each other today. It may hit you both at different times. I know, this is my third time and it never really gets easier."

Hadrian and Tim smiled at the kind-hearted lady.

"Thank you" Hadrian said.

"Good luck today" Tim added.

-o0o-

Teddy settled in well to preschool and Barbara turned out to be a good fit for their family. Everything was going along well until Hadrian got pulled aside one day as he walked into the DC branch of Gringotts as part of an investigation. He quickly got the information he needed, being one of their wealthiest customers with a reputation for treating his account manager respectfully and taking his advice served him well here. As he was leaving, a goblin passed him the message that his account manager Sharprock wanted to see him at his earliest convenience.

"I finish work at five, I could use a portkey and be at the London branch by 1730 our time which would be 1230 London time, would that suit Sharprock?" Hadrian asked to goblin passing the message politely.

"The time suits but Sharprock is willing to come to this branch to see you" the goblin replied.

"If it doesn't inconvenience him too much, that would be gratefully appreciated" Hadrian replied smiling.

"1730 DC time then" the goblin confirmed.

"Thank you I'll be here" Hadrian agreed.

Once out of the bank he rang Tim to let him know he'd be late home. "Sharprock wants to see me badly enough that he's willing to travel to DC. I expect whatever it is might take a while" he warned Tim.

"It's ominous that he's willing to come to me instead of demanding my presence. Either they want something from me or there's something to inform me of that Gringotts feels responsible for" Hadrian said.

"That could just have a more efficient means of travelling between one branch and another" Tim suggested.

"They probably do for him to even suggest it but still…" Hadrian trailed off thoughtfully. "he's not the type to try to save me the discomfort of an international portkey without a reason. We're not actually friends and most goblins enjoy causing as much irritation and inconvenience for wizards as possible within the treaties they have with the wizarding world."

-o0o-

Hadrian was careful to be ten minutes early for his appointment with Sharprock, and to let the goblin at the desk know that he was happy to wait for Sharprock's convenience.

Sharprock chose not to keep him waiting, which rang more alarm bells in Hadrian's mind. In his experience Goblins loved to exercise their power by making wizards wait for them.

"Sharprock" Hadrian greeted bowing slightly.

"Black" Sharprock answered using only the surname Hadrian used in America.

"You asked to see me?" Hadrian asked getting to the point.

"Your accounts for the Potter Griffin Corporation show a sharp and unexplainable drop in profit" Sharprock stated bluntly.

Hadrian frowned. "What seems to be the problem?"

"The rental income suggests occupancy is down at least ten percent in south London but looking at the lease agreements your buildings are at full tenancy with rent prices rising in line with inflation and there is a waiting list for most buildings as well. I believe someone is skimming off the profits" Sharprock replied.

"Have you investigated?" Hadrian asked.

"I've done what I can, the loss is not occurring inside Gringotts, and it's too wide spread to blame one of your area managers. As you know most of them are muggles so we cannot spell or potion them for truthfulness" Sharprock answered seriously. "You'll have to hire human investigators if you want answers."

"That's not what you want is it. You want me to go and investigate it myself" Hadrian said perceptively.

"We've already hired one investigator who found nothing" Sharprock replied.

"You think the investigator might have been bought off? Paid to overlook something?"

"The missing sum is quite large, you'd have to hire someone beyond trustworthy to guarantee it didn't happen" Sharprock replied obscurely.

"I'm sure all your employees are carefully screened" Hadrian replied.

"We do what we can" Sharprock replied. "Most of our employees are well aware that to steal from us will result in a most painful death but in this case it's a little different."

Hadrian shuddered, the rumours of thieves being fed to the dragons that guarded the highest security vaults had never been proven but they were pervasive enough that most wizards believed them.

"Of course, it could just be that the thief is just very skilled at hiding his tracks. With wizards, or goblins for that matter we can easily dose suspects with truth serums and find out all they know. An unfortunate side effect of this is that we are not as well proficient in muggle investigative techniques and profiling whether someone is telling the truth."

"I'll need to talk to my husband before we determine our next step. It may be that the best thing to do would be to approach muggle authorities. They have a white collar crime division that deals with things like this" Hadrian replied.

"That might cause issues with the stature of secrecy given that all your money goes into Gringotts and you don't pay muggle taxes on most of it" Sharprock warned.

"I'll take that into account" Hadrian replied. "Thank you for letting me know."

-o0o-

The elves had dinner ready to dish up when Hadrian arrived home so he helped Teddy pick up his toys and wash up.

"How was your day?" he asked.

Teddy jumped in and told them a meandering story about his morning at kinder, his lunch with Tollie and his trip to the park with Barbara. Tim and Hadrian listened smiling at the little boy's enthusiasm.

"Well I spent the morning at Rock Creek Park but I didn't have the fun you did" Tim said.

"You went to the park?" Teddy asked.

"It's not a play park, and it wasn't a real petty officer either, we turned it over to the local LEO's" Tim explained. "It's a pity we get so many victims there, the park would be beautiful if it didn't have so many negative connotations."

"Well I had a fairly typical work day. We managed to find out who's been financing our perp and pulled them in for questioning. Then Sharprock and I had a conversation on the surprising reduction in rental income on my properties in London in spite of the fact they're all fully occupied. He wants me to come back to England to investigate" Hadrian said.

"I take it we are talking about a lot of money?" Tim asked.

"Not enough to make a difference in our quality of living, but yes quite a bit. It's more the fact that someone's stealing from me" Hadrian replied.

"Do you think it could be someone doing it to force you to come back to Britain?" Tim asked.

"I don't know, but that's definitely what Sharprock wanted. I can't hand the evidence over to the police without breaking the statute of secrecy as the money gets deposited into Gringotts and disappears from the muggle world" Hadrian answered.

"So, that makes you the perfect target to rob if someone knew that" Tim suggested.

"Yeah" Hadrian replied thoughtfully, "but not if they knew that I work for the DMLE, or they knew anything about goblin justice."

"Do you want to go to London and investigate?" Tim asked.

Hadrian shrugged. "I've only just returned to work, and Teddy's settled in kindergarten. It's not a good time to be taking a week or so off to go to London for heaven knows how long in the hope we can find out how someone's skimming the money and who's doing it."

"I could ask Gibbs for a couple of days off" Tim offered.

"I could go by myself or we could wait until October 21st when Teddy has the week off" Hadrian replied. "I don't want him to miss kinder but I don't want to leave him behind with Barbara and Tollie" Hadrian replied. "The problem is I think the records might be on computer, which would explain why the goblins or anyone they'd hire couldn't find anything." Hadrian was slightly embarrassed that he was so hopeless at something Tim was so interested in. He knew Tim didn't care but he hated not being able to share something that was important to his husband.

"How much money will you lose by waiting?" Tim asked concerned.

"Maybe quite a bit but once the goblins know where it is they should be able to collect it. I'm more worried about my relationship with the goblins if they realise that my children's happiness is more important to me than correcting a loss as soon as possible" Hadrian replied.

"Even in the muggle world?" Tim asked.

"Yeah I think so" Hadrian replied. "To be honest the money isn't as important as Teddy's well being. We have more than plenty."

"It's hard to think that way. In not used to having so much that being robbed doesn't matter" Tim said.

"It still doesn't feel right, knowing someone's stealing from me" Hadrian said. "But it would be worse if it's someone who knows me."

-o0o-

A/N: Thank you to Kourtney Uzu Yato, Rori Potter, Firehedgehog, charm13insomnia, BCgurlie, Guest, icyquest4, Reader Ethiriel, lia (Guest), xDarklightx, julschristine975, lilly-flower15, Lientjuhh, veyronking995, acherongoddess, Kaorilamb, mayawene, DarkRavie, DS2010, jayswing96, Fixtictious Fanasty, Merlenyn, Maben00, asdf (Guest), Locket1, buterflypuss, dobbys-stinger, Village-Mystic, Silvermane1, PercyJacksonROCKS4ever, gabrieljuarezl, Hortensia, serenityselena, .9, yngoldfogee (Guest), Hot Tamale (Guest), Serpent91, LadyDrak75, Fallow53 (Guest), rmiser1994, MargaritaS, madnessdownunder2, InlovewithMalfoy, Missabakuno, skmccollum, EmpressKie, Mithryl, jbuising85, jhor, Chisana22, imphyy, wilbornas, SAK01248, Blyder, PotterSnapeValdezDiAngelo, jdekke, .1, issey989, Rocketgirllily, Erster Schnee, mamadoi, necrogirlmb12, purediabolus, kain-donovan, yaoichan, marianbri, reckless13, Tasva, Mullkkkkkk, cjcold2, CalicoKitty402, Sakiq-Sakik, MaidenZorriah, amber10587, .x, tiwan, redsnivy, rozielrie, BeautifulCherryBlossom, fontsofwisdom, 2130, AlexisJames, Xzeria, Rumbling Frenzy, Shinigami04, FoldedWings, Kalypso24, sorguez, lucariosgirl22, IgorTheBat, tcbnv, aldetert, chantal marchons, Kaiserin Rose, dragon-girl40, redstickbonbon, Remea, PasserbySir, 15-Alesso-22, K'VIN, Snow-Nightshade, kickassclumsy, Kasai no Oni, disingenuous, sblack13, norska, dverducci, nlblake, , speedy101, Crystalline92, Silver Eyes in Shadow, Alia-Jevs, phoenixdeea, SeekersTF4, InfinityMinusOne, Kyuubi, LikaNues, 24casey91, pentheseleia, .on. .Night, frances979, shadowmoon31, and lollypop1996 for your support.


	49. Chapter 49

Chapter 49

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or NCIS or any of their characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do NOT give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

 **-o0o-**

Hermione wiped the sweat of her face and grimaced as Rose woke from her nap and started to cry. There was another thirteen minutes before she could safely put the potion in stasis and she couldn't afford to vanish it and start again. Rose would just have to wait. The baby continued to cry, and Hermione continued to try to finish this stage of the potion but her concentration wavered. It ended up taking an extra eight minutes and some expensive ingredients to counter the mistake she made. Finally able to put the potion in stasis, she collapse on to a kitchen chair for a moment before wearily going into the nursery to get her daughter.

"Why couldn't you sleep just a couple more minutes" Hermione asked the baby petulantly as she picked her up and changed her nappy.

The baby continued to grizzle so once she was clean and dressed Hermione sat in the rocking chair and started to feed, wincing as Rose's first tooth grazed her already sore breast. "You know if I could afford formula, you wouldn't be getting this, so make the most of it. Of all the things you could inherit from your father, you would get his never ending appetite" she grumbled. She closed her eyes and in spite of the discomfort was drifting off to sleep by the time Rose pulled off and resumed her grizzling. Hermione stirred and listlessly moved the baby to her shoulder and started rubbing her back. Rose burped loudly. "You get that from your father too" Hermione said kissing the side of Rose's head. "I love you baby girl but Mummy's got to finish that potion before George gets here to collect it and then get everything put away in time to make dinner for Daddy."

She got up tiredly and put the baby in the playpen under the hanging toy one of her aunts had bought her. Ron hadn't liked the idea of his child playing with muggle toys but he hadn't seen this one yet so hadn't told her to get rid of it and it kept Rose entertained better than anything else at the moment. She removed the stasis from the potion and had just finished pouring it into the vials when George arrived.

"You look dead on your feet Hermione, you should take tomorrow off" he said gently, putting the list of potions he had wanted for the next day back into his pocket.

"You need the potions and I need to earn the money" Hermione replied.

"Yes, and you'll have to take a lot more than one day off if you get rundown and make yourself ill" George retorted. "I can make the potions that I really need tonight and you are to spend the day resting."

He looked around the house, "And I mean resting not cooking and cleaning and shopping. I'll ask Mum to come and look after little Rose."

"George, no. I spend so little time with her as it is" Hermione protested.

"Hermione, seriously, you'll make yourself ill, and then Rose could get sick too. You need to spend some time looking after yourself.

-o0o-

Hadrian soon got used to juggling work and children helped by liberal use of his time turner. In fact, he even found time to enrol in college, Auror Clancy helping him to get into Georgetown to study muggle and magical law and runes. He'd found he enjoyed studying, especially now that he'd reached a level where he didn't feel ashamed of not already know the information.

Clancy was a little concerned about premature ageing with how much he was using the time turner but Hadrian reassured him that he still barely looked eighteen even though he was chronologically twenty-four and probably at least a year older than that due to his excessive time turner use since arriving in America. Tim was so much older than him and wizarding lifespans were so much longer than muggles that he didn't need to worry about it. He wondered whether having his magic bound affected Tim's life expectancy. He hadn't heard of American non-magicals living to be more than a few years over a hundred so he had to assume it did.

Teddy settled into kinder and made friends, most of the other parents accepted he and Tim as Teddy's parents though he'd had a couple of other mothers question how old he was and whether he was Teddy's brother. Thankfully nobody had assumed he was Tim's biological son. They'd received some strange looks when they revealed their true relationship but once people were convinced Hadrian was an independent adult and not being taken advantage off most people were happy to keep their curiosity to themselves.

Teddy's best mates, Troy and Ethan didn't even seem to notice anything odd in Teddy having two male parents. Ethan had a stepfather and stepmother himself though he did mention that he wished his two dads could be good friends like Teddy's dads were. Troy just thought it unfair that Teddy had two dads home so much of the time when his own dad was often only home late at night and on weekends. Both boys were impressed by the indoor play gym and the huge yard Teddy had to play in. Their parents were more impressed by the obvious signs of understated wealth indicated in the large immaculately maintained house and garden so they were happy to let their sons go to play.

Tim and Hadrian liked both the boys and were happy that their son had made friends though it meant being careful that no sign of magic could be found on the ground floor of the house and the elves had to stay out of the way and let Hadrian or Tim fetch the boys their afternoon snacks.

Hadrian and Tim found Troy's mother and Ethan's mother and stepfather to be friendly, they didn't meet the other parents for some time and when they did they weren't impressed. Ethan's stepmother became obviously uneasy when she heard that Hadrian and Tim were both federal agents though she tried to pass it off as concern for the safety of her stepson, and Troy's father was overly impressed with the house and basically ignored Hadrian, trying to cosy up with Tim until Tim laughingly informed him that Hadrian was the one with the money.

Tim subtly had Ethan's stepmother investigated but didn't find anything other than the fact she'd been questioned and cleared of involvement when her father and uncle were arrested for racketeering. Nothing to make them wary of Teddy and Ethan's friendship. Tim and Hadrian preferred that the children met in places that could be under their control, the other mothers were grateful for the extra time off and Barbara was happy to supervise three boys for a couple of hours in the park or at their house so the friendship progressed well.

-o0o-

Over the next couple of weeks in his free time, Tim did what computer searches he could to investigate what was going on in PGC's south London offices to result in the drop in profits Gringotts was reporting. He didn't find anything. There was no rise in maintenance or other expenses listed, the buildings were reported to be very close to full occupancy with a surprisingly small turn around between one tenant leaving and the next moving in, though there was less movement than Tim would have expected from the experiences he'd had leasing apartments himself. The building managers all reported things were going well and their receipt books indicated that the rents were still being paid. In fact, Tim noticed when comparing the rent receipts and expense claims that even before the goblin's noticed the drop in deposits there seemed to be money going missing somewhere before being deposited in Hadrian's account at Gringotts though the amount had suddenly increased just over two months ago.

Hadrian called Quincy who identified which elves helped with the maintenance on the buildings in south London and they confirmed that there were no unusual problems with any of the buildings. Hadrian was relieved to see that normal maintenance was still being carried out on schedule and the housing was in good condition. None of the elves had noticed anything wrong, though that didn't mean much in terms of the thefts because the elves didn't handle the money.

"At least the tenants haven't been affected" he said to Tim.

"No but if the thefts continue to escalate it will only be a matter of time before the South London PGC account doesn't have the funds to cover a major repair if anything does go wrong" Tim replied. "I think we have a year or two before it reaches that stage though, I'll keep an eye on it but I think you're going to have to go to Britain to get any further. I could put a block on the transfers but I'd rather not do that until we're there to catch the guy when he tries to fix it. That's the thing about thieves once they get comfortable and start thinking that nobody has noticed the thefts they start getting greedy and taking more and more believing they'll never be caught just because they weren't caught straight away."

"Thanks Tim" Hadrian replied smiling at his husband gratefully. He booked them into a nice but child and infant friendly motel in London for a month from now when hopefully Teddy would be settled enough in kinder that taking him out for a week wouldn't do much harm. Both Hadrian and Tim knew that eventually they would both be busy on cases that required them to travel at the same time, they didn't want to leave him or Rosie at home without at least one of them unless it absolutely couldn't be avoided.

-o0o-

Gibbs grumbled about giving Tim the week off, especially when he'd recently had leave and the others were all nearing use it or lose it status on their comp time but Tim did have the leave available and the director had approved it. In fact, the director had stood the whole team down for the week forcing them all to take time off.

Abby immediately started making plans for the week off, begging everyone except Tim to volunteer some days to the new habitat for humanity project. Tim noticed the omission but wasn't bothered by it. Even if he hadn't had plans to go to London he would prefer to spend his time off with his family.

Gibbs and Tony noticed and both gave the woman the cold shoulder for trying to play games. She should have known better. The bullying and harassment lectures they'd all been forced to sit through because of her actions would have labelled the behaviour 'bullying by exclusion' and as such was technically a breach of her probation. Gibbs, Tony and Ducky all carefully sounded out Tim to make sure he genuinely wasn't upset by the technical analyst's behaviour. If he had shown them even the slightest hurt, they would have reported her to Vance. Instead Tim was glad not to be harassed into helping out with the project, he'd enjoyed doing so in the past but he had no desire to spend out of work hours with the overly cheerful goth and he was grateful not to be punished by her for already having plans and turning her down. Having confirmed that Tim wouldn't be hurt if he did help out, Gibbs agreed to spend a couple of days helping out with the carpentry tasks in the building, Tony on the other hand took the opportunity to catch up with a couple of Frat buddies he hadn't been able to visit in a while and Ziva elected to extend her leave and go home to Israel for two weeks.

-o0o-

Hadrian had offered to take Barbara with them to England but Barbara declined, happy to have the time off to visit her family. Instead Tollie and the elves would come and look after Teddy and Rosie. He hadn't wanted to risk staying in any of the Potter or Black properties for fear that someone had set up notification wards to alert them if he visited. So they'd booked into a hotel and arranged for Quincy to check out each property and make a list of what wards needed updating and what maintenance needed doing urgently as well as to provide memories of the houses so they could choose one to update for personal use and which if any they wanted to turn into apartments to rent. Hadrian was all for totally gutting Grimmauld place and turning it into muggle apartments. Sirius had hated the place so much and he would have loved the idea of sticking it to his ancestors by turning it into a muggle house.

They settled into the hotel and left the children to sleep off the portkey. Casting glamours on himself and Tim he showed him Diagon Alley.

Tim loved the look of the olde worlde shopping district and they spent a couple of hours exploring the shops before heading to Gringotts. They met Sharprock in his office and he gave them what little extra information he had managed to collect. The one thing he had managed to confirm for them was that the money want being deposited in any other Gringotts account or vault. It was going missing in the muggle world and apparently it was staying there. Hadrian thanked Sharprock for his assistance and the two men headed back to the hotel not noticing that the wards on Gringotts had negated some of their glamours, just enough to be recognised by someone who knew them very well.

Hermione noticed the man who looked and moved a lot like Harry walking towards the leaky cauldron as she stepped out of the apothecary. She wanted to follow but reminded herself that Rose was alone at home sleeping and that she needed to finish the potions before Fred came to pick them up. She attempted to cast a tracking charm, but watched it miss hitting a nearby man and cursed to herself. Still looking at the two of them laughing together she realised the man knew Harry and might know where he was.

Hadrian didn't notice the tracking charm hit Tim but he had already warded the motel room against them anyway and they reached the apparition point and apparated back to the motel. They debated going out for dinner somewhere but Rosie was still grizzly and unsettled from the portkey so they ended up calling room service and having an early night. The room had a great view of London and after the children were sleeping again Hadrian cast warming charms on himself and his husband and they cuddled up on the swing chair out on the balcony talking quietly.

"I see what you mean about being hundreds of years behind" Tim said amused. "Even the historical villages in the US seem modern by comparison. I see why you weren't that interested in them."

Hadrian laughed. "Yeah, they were a bit too self-consciously theatrical too."

"What I don't understand is that Diagon Alley is in the middle of London, how do people not notice witches and wizards coming and going. There were a lot of children running around, they couldn't have apparated could they? When you told me the wizarding world was hidden I thought it would be in the middle of nowhere?"

"The British have another system of transport called a floo. It connects fireplaces and turns them into a sort of portal. Most of the people in the Alley today have never gone through the Leaky Cauldron into the rest of London" Hadrian explained. "And to be honest the Alley was probably in the middle of nowhere when it was built."

"Why would they isolate themselves like that? When it's so easy to walk from one world to the other" Tim asked.

"They're told that there's nothing worthwhile in the muggle world and there's stories about how frightening the muggle world is. The road outside the cauldron is busy and for someone who's never seen a car or lorry before let alone have any understanding of road rules it is a very dangerous place. It only takes one person coming back with a story about nearly getting killed for whole families never to go out again. Besides you've met Hannah and Neville, other than what Neville was forced to learn about the non-magical world for work neither of them had any interest in it."

That sort of lack of curiosity was surprising to Tim, that a whole community was happy to ignore the outside world was totally incomprehensible. Even the Amish knew that curiosity needed to be satisfied and sent their young adults out to experience the world for a year before coming back to commit themselves to the Amish community, but the wizarding world had managed to stifle that curiosity for generations. He wondered how they'd done it. Had they somehow succeeded in breeding out curiosity and risk taking behaviour? Unlikely since Hadrian seemed to have both of those traits in spades. From what he said though his curious nature had come from his mother whose parents weren't magical, and he spoke of his friend Hermione as the brightest witch of their generation and she hadn't been born to magical parents either.

"How do they stop the kids and teenagers from trying to get out and seeing what they're missing?" Tim asked.

"You know, I don't know?" Hadrian said thoughtfully. "I would have thought that more students would want to, but it was the same with the forbidden forest at school, very few students ever went in there until the war. We weren't even given details why we shouldn't only that it was too dangerous."

"And was it dangerous?" Tim asked.

"Well it was mostly the Acromantula, the man-eating spiders the size of a lorry that are the real problem" Hadrian said grinning. "If you know enough to stay away from them and not to insult the centaurs it was probably safe enough except on the full moon."

"Let me guess, you weren't one of the vast majority that did what they were told and stayed out of the forest" Tim deadpanned.

"What can I say. If it helps, I always had a good reason" Hadrian replied.

Tim laughed ruefully. "Do you think that curiosity has been bred out of them?" he asked.

"Perhaps but the Weasley twins would have to be the two most curious individuals on the planet and they're purebloods. "Hermione used to say she was sure that basic common sense and logic were absent from the thought process of most witches and wizards. They never seemed to realise that just because they could do something with magic didn't automatically mean that they should. Magic prevents them from a lot of the consequences for their actions too so long as they don't actually kill themselves, so between that and the fact they aren't taught any form of critical thinking or evaluation and judgement at school most wizards don't learn to question what they're told.

"Other than Sarah, is there anyone you want to visit while we're here?" Hadrian asked.

"No, last time I was here was for a book tour, I didn't have time to make friends" Tim replied. "We are still on for dinner with Sarah tomorrow night?"

"Yes, I would have made it today so you could spend as much time as possible with her but I was worried about how the kids would cope with the portkey" Hadrian replied.

"Yeah, good decision" Tim said looking through the glass door to the two children sound asleep in the hotel room. Hadrian had cast stasis spells on their uneaten dinner.

Hadrian laughed.

"I wouldn't mind catching up with Neville" Tim said. "Get him to show me some of his world."

Hadrian smiled. "I'd like that too but maybe right before we leave. Once Hannah knows we're here then everybody and their dog will know."

Tim laughed. "You don't have enough faith in her, she was horrified when she realised you were in hiding for my protection and she promised not to even try to find out where we were living,"

"Yeah because even she doesn't trust herself to keep it secret" Hadrian countered.

"I'd also like to see Hogwarts if that's possible" Tim said.

Hadrian frowned thoughtfully, "We could go to Hogsmeade and you could see it from a distance. I don't know if the wards will let us into the castle grounds without informing the professors."

Tim nodded. "Is there anyone else you want to see?"

"I wouldn't mind catching up with Hermione" Hadrian replied. "I'd rather go while Ron's at work because I'm not sure how he'll react. We probably should leave that until we're ready to leave the country too."

"Before or after seeing Neville and Hannah?" Tim asked.

"After it will take more time for Hannah to spread the news than Hermione to tell her husband and him to tell his family" Hadrian replied. "Quincy also wants to meet me a couple of places to make some decisions about non-essential maintenance of the properties I don't currently lease out."

"Are there many?" Tim asked surprised. "I thought you had converted the house you live in into flats and leased them."

"Yes, though I kept the top floor for personal use, which considering that I was afraid to take you and the kids there in case someone had warded the area to alert them to my presence now seems a bit silly" Hadrian replied. "But apparently there's a couple of other houses that have come from other lines of the family that have been closed up for a couple of decades that need some work."

-o0o-

Tim and Hadrian arrived at the PGC East London office and were greeted with some surprise and wariness which quickly turned into welcoming grins when Hadrian explained that they were having trouble with one of the other offices and wanted to see exactly how a well run office did things before meeting with the manager in question. They happily showed Tim through their computer records while the manager showed Hadrian the map of what properties were managed and their condition and occupancy reports.

-o0o-

Hermione was ignoring her crying baby and rushing to get through the potions that Fred had told her were the most urgent so she could try to find Harry. She'd warned Fred she was taking the afternoon off and had arranged to leave Rose with Molly. She only hoped that Harry was actually with the man she managed to hit with the tracking charm and it hadn't just been a friendly conversation with a new acquaintance who had no idea where Harry was staying. Finally finished the potions she packed them up, grabbed the small vial of truth potion she'd managed to brew and headed out. It wasn't Veritaserum but it should work on most wizards and it wasn't like she was going to try to use it on Harry. She expected that it should be enough to get the other wizard to tell her where Harry was.

She apparated to the Burrow and tried to calm down the now screaming baby, she checked her quickly to make sure she hadn't been splinched but she was okay just upset by the sensation so she cuddled her into her shoulder and rubbed her back trying to calm her, cringing when Rose threw up all the way down her back.

"Hermione?" Molly came rushing out. "Why on earth didn't you use the floo?"

"We didn't have and floo powder" Hermione admitted blushing. "Besides that usually makes her throw up too."

"Yes, but it is much less dangerous than apparating with a baby" Molly scolded. "If you'd floo called I'd have sent some through to you, or you could have used the public floo at the Leaky Cauldron."

Molly took the baby and Hermione spelled the two of them clean. "Thanks for having her this afternoon" she said to her mother-in-law.

"No problem, she's such a little darling and so quiet" Molly replied. "You know it would be no trouble for me to have her more often."

"I know" Hermione replied non-committedly. "I'll pick her up before six."

"You and Ron should come for dinner" Molly countered. "I see so little of you all lately. And you're both so thin, you need a good feeding up."

'What I need is a husband who earns enough money on his own that I don't have to spend all day brewing potions and then half the night sneaking about to catch up with the housework. And money for formula so I can wean the baby' Hermione thought to herself sourly. "Okay then I'll see you tonight" she agreed. At least it was one meal she didn't have to buy or cook though the constant criticism she expected from Molly about the way she treated the woman's son was a high price to pay for a night off."

A/N: Thank you to Guest, Kourtney Uzu Yato, Guest, julschristine975, Kaorilamb, charm13insomnia, lia (Guest), redstickbonbon, Maben00, GenkaiFan, ABreathAwayFromWhereYouAre, Rori Potter, DarkRavie, lilly-flower15, xDarklightx, .9, mithrilandtj, Love life and Have fun, Keedra2173, madnessdownunder2, Fallow53 (Guest), buterflypuss, flying chrissy 1976, DS2010, acherongoddess, Firehedgehog, Village-Mystic, serenityselena, sifshadowheart, Silvermane1, Reader Ethiriel, MageVicky, KarisTasogare, gabrieljuarezl, NightshadeDreams, dobbys-stinger, Merlenyn, Sahara83, Thunderfran, becstar152000, Booksbear, ttchmelancon1993, angelswords, sammimcintosh98, kurlz, Inoue Orihime15, Asher's Angel, kalira100, EUREKA STRIKER ALPHA, Sway132073, Kami0110c, dwamena2012, Erinyen, BeepKeeper, , nanami9097, fbeast79, dragonfox123, Hammenterprises, Waiting ON a wish, Rychu I guess, sugaraddict99, anathimakapela, tammarahfowler1, RiderAlex, julesa66, green-eyed storywriter, animexyaoi, PurpleWitch25565, HoneyOrchid, A Chilly Panda, mephistopholes, Sulamithe, She Who Cannot Be Turned, , Pheonixs1518, Twin Kats, Beyond the Shadows Edge, thaliasama, Mangy, Orlliv, FlameLover2, Yyy66y, MamaB **,** LUVStomfelton, 1999, KarisTasogare, GentryGreen, AshidaReiko, Nobuyuki27, Usaka, aria9627, WolifQueen, tigerkisa, K8 Bee and Zyrieen for your support.


	50. Chapter 50

Chapter 50

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or NCIS or any of their characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do NOT give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

-o0o-

Hermione apparated in the direction of the tracking charm, stopped and checked it before apparating again. Once she got close she was able to pinpoint the building the man was in and started talking her way into the building.

A little magic made her seem sincere and convincing and the secretary led her into the back room where Hadrian was looking at the records Tim had found.

"I can guarantee that the thefts are isolated to the South London office" Tim said. "There's no sign of even small amounts going missing anywhere else."

"Well that's a relief" Hadrian said smiling.

"Hello Harry" Hermione interrupted.

"Hermione" Hadrian exclaimed shocked and more than a little concerned wondering how she'd found him so soon after he arrived back in the country. If she knew he was the owner of PGC had she also been involved in the thefts. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to see you" Hermione stated fiercely. "What's going on Harry. Why didn't you tell me you were here in London."

"We arrived yesterday. This isn't a holiday Hermione, I'm here to work" Hadrian replied. "I planned to visit you once we'd caught the criminal."

"This is a muggle business. Why on earth would they need to call in the Aurors? Particularly to call you back from wherever you've been the last few years?" Hermione asked astonished.

"That's none of your business" Hadrian snapped.

"It's classified. He cannot tell you" Tim said conciliatorily.

Hermione ignored him and turned to tackle/hug Hadrian. "I'm so glad you're home. I've missed you so much. Ginny's prepared to forgive you if you still want to marry her, or I can help you find another witch with a brother" she said eagerly. "Most of our year and Ginny's year level are married now so you'll need to try to get to know the younger girls. I know you stayed away from girls who only know you by your reputation as the boy-who-lived but they've grown up now, they're not all giggly and silly anymore. And if you can't bring yourself to trust a stranger then maybe you and Ginny could try again. Ginny's really changed Harry and is ready to get married and be a mother I'm sure she'll agree to allowing one of her brothers to inseminate you if that's what you want."

Hadrian gently disengaged from Hermione and looked at her carefully wondering why she seemed so delusional. His heart hurt at the sight of her looking so thin and worn out, almost as bad as he imagined he'd looked at the end of a summer with the Dursleys. Still he needed to get to the bottom of her crazy idea first to make sure she wasn't a danger to Tim or their children before he could worry about helping her.

"Ginny says she is prepared to forgive me for what exactly?" Hadrian asked frowning.

"For breaking up with her and for leaving. For not giving her the time to come to terms with what had happened to you. She understands now and she wants you back" Hermione said surprised Harry was questioning the obvious.

"She has always wanted me back. Or rather she wanted the 'boy-who-lived' back so she could parade me around like a fancy show pony. I would be willing to bet the entire contents of the Potter vaults that she still doesn't give a damn about me as a person and if I appeared in glamours she wouldn't even like me until I told her who I was."

"No you're wrong. She loves you and she forgives you for leaving, please come back" Hermione argued.

"I didn't do anything for Ginny to need to forgive me. You know that! It's Ginny whose actions were almost unforgivable and I don't feel at all inclined to forgive her, nor do I believe she has changed enough not to try to manipulate me again if given half a chance. And frankly Hermione I don't care" Hadrian declared looking at his friend and wondering how she didn't remember that.

"Don't you want to get married, have children of your own?" Hermione asked.

"Even if I wanted to marry a witch, the only advantage to marrying Ginny Weasley would be that she couldn't break my heart because I already know she 'll never love me. I'd already know she doesn't care about me in the slightest. That's she's only in it for the fame and the money. Is that the sort of marriage you want for me Hermione? Don't you want me to be happy?" Harry asked demandingly.

"Don't I deserve more than that?"

"Yes of course you deserve more than that. But marriage isn't all sunshine and roses Harry no matter how much you love each other" Hermione said bitterly. "I want you to be happy Harry, but you've always wanted children, a family. Don't you want to come home? We're your family Harry" Hermione protested.

"No the Weasleys are Ginny's family not mine" Hadrian retorted. "They made that perfectly clear when they all condemned me without even asking for my side of the story."

"Oh Harry I didn't mean to..." Hermione said contritely.

"No. Just like you didn't mean to become too busy for Teddy to even recognise his godmother's photo?" Hadrian said bluntly. "You just got so caught up in your work and your relationship with Ron that everything else went by the wayside."

"I don't even know where he is" Hermione admitted sadly. "Andromeda died suddenly and he was gone. No one at the funeral knew what happened to him."

"Is that why you didn't tell me about Andromeda's death, because you didn't want to admit you'd lost Teddy?" Hadrian asked unamused. "If you were truly worried about him you would have told me. I have resources to find him that you don't."

"I asked Kingsley to have a search made for him. I didn't just do nothing" Hermione protested.

"Teddy's a minor of the House of Black. As his head of house there is a way for me to know his location in my vaults, kind of like Mrs Weasley's clock but more specific." Hadrian replied.

"Then can we go there now and find him?" Hermione said eagerly.

"I don't need to find him" Hadrian said bluntly. "Andromeda didn't die unexpectedly, Hermione. She suffered from her heart for months and made plans for when she wouldn't be well enough to look after Teddy. She asked for your help but you were too busy. I wasn't. I helped out when I could for months as Andi's health declined. Andi had enough warning to call me to come, I travelled back to England and spent her last couple of hours with her. before she died, she gave me her blessing to take custody of Teddy. I packed up Teddy's things and took him home with me. We didn't come back for the funeral because three international portkeys within a week is far too much for a toddler.

"Why didn't she call me?" Hermione asked.

"Because Teddy didn't know you. I managed to visit him at least every two weeks even after leaving the country" Hades replied. "Besides she had called you. Tollie told me she was asked to stay out of sight for the weekend because you would be there. But you cancelled on her at the last minute. She was sick and needed the help and you were too busy with work so we didn't think there was any point to calling you again."

"Why didn't you call me? I'm his godmother. I have a right to see him" Hermione retorted thinking that this would be a way to force Harry to keep in touch with her.

"No you're not actually. We assigned new godparents when we adopted him" Hadrian snapped. "I needed someone I could trust to be in his life if anything happened to me."

Hermione looked hurt. "Harry you're my best friend. You could trust me" she said sadly.

"No Hermione I can't trust you to put my needs or Teddy's above your job or your relationships with the Weasleys. When we needed you. You were too busy to care" Hadrian said unyieldingly.

"By the way Kingsley has known Teddy was with me the entire time, he told me that you'd been in to ask about his whereabouts once and I gave him permission to tell you he was with me if you asked again. You'd have know where he was months ago if you'd cared enough to bother to ask more than once."

Hermione looked horrified. "I thought he would contact me as soon as he knew anything. I'm his godmother."

"Kingsley is one of Teddy's new godparents. He knew why I felt the need to allocate him new ones" Hadrian replied.

"But he lives here in England too, how is that any better than me" Hermione protested.

"Because he puts the effort in to visit" Hadrian snapped.

"That's not fair, you wont tell me where you live" Hermione retorted.

"You knew where Andi lived for years Hermione and you were less than ten miles from her and Teddy still didn't know you well enough to recognise your photo. Teddy's doing really well by the way, he has settled in and loves preschool" Hadrian said with a glare that showed Hermione exactly how unimpressed he was that she could argue that he couldn't take away her rights as Teddy's godmother when she couldn't even be bothered asking how he was.

"I'm not moving back to England. And even if I do sometime in the future I would never live in the wizarding world. I came to find out who is stealing from me" Hadrian said bluntly.

"Stealing from your vaults?" Hermione asked astonished. "I didn't think that was possible."

"It wouldn't be without the goblins' help and I trust them, but no I meant stealing profits from my company and muggle accounts" Hadrian explained.

He watched Hermione's face carefully to see her reactions. She looked shocked first and then relieved. "I didn't know you had a muggle bank account much less a company. What does it do?"

"The Potter Griffin Corporation buys, develops and leases land and property, mostly in the muggle world" Hadrian said dismissively.

"PGC?" Hermione whispered in awe. "They're the biggest landowners in Britain. I've heard there's been an act of parliament drawn up to limit them from owning more land. Mum and Dad's Dentistry was in a PGC building."

"Yes but I'm also one of the best landlords in the country. My properties are warded against fire, theft and violence as well as mould mildew and to ensure structural stability. Even in areas where other landlords have vacant properties there are waiting lists for my properties and my rents are generally a couple of dollars a week less than the comparable rate." He didn't tell Hermione that he'd already begun buying and developing property in a different name both in Britain and in the united States so that the government wouldn't realise he was still accumulating rental properties. It meant a slight increase in administration costs running two separate businesses but it was well worth it to keep the politicians off his back. He did more for his tenants than they ever had anyway."

Hermione kept arguing how important it was for Harry to move back home and reunite with Ginny until Hadrian stunned her. He got out the veritaserum and put three drops on his childhood friend's tongue, disarmed her and cast a sticking charm on her chair removing her wand before enervating her.

Hermione looked furious for a moment before the potion kicked in.

Did you have anything to do with me being cursed in April 1999?"

"No"

"Do you know who paid ex-Healer Davis to curse me?"

"No"

"Do you have any suspicions who might have paid him to curse me?"

"Yes"

"Who?"

"Ginny Weasley."

"Why?"

"Ginny was trying to hide that she was pleased about something the day it happened. And she was annoyed when she found out you were hurt, but she also seemed relieved about something. She seemed more upset that you embarrassed her by standing her up in front of her friends than worried about your health and wellbeing. She doesn't even like to hold her nieces and nephew, so I suspect she would have been quite happy with the idea of the two of you never having children."

"Was there anything else that made you think she would attack Harry?" Tim added.

"I've thought she would strike him one day when they were arguing. She has quite a temper" Hermione replied.

"Other than in the heat of the moment, is there anything that led you to believe Ginny could plan an attack on Harry?" Tim asked again.

"Not at the time he was attacked, but now I don't know. She will go a long way to get her own way" Hermione replied.

"Why on earth do you want me to get back with Ginny if you suspect she might have been behind me being cursed?" Hadrian exclaimed incredulously.

Hermione had to answer the question even though Hadrian hadn't intended to ask it. "Because you're my only true friend other than Ginny and I miss you and worry about you. If you and Ginny got back together you'd come home and she's settle down and stop drinking."

"Have you ever stolen from me?" Hadrian asked to cover all the bases though he really didn't think she could be the thief.

"Yes" Hermione said in the flat veritaserum induced tones.

"What have you stolen from Harry?" Tim asked because Hadrian was too shocked to ask.

"I stole spare parchment and quills from his bag many times, I once borrowed his invisibility cloak in fifth year without asking him and since he's been gone I've been to Grimmauld place several times and eaten food that was Harry's and read the books there" Hermione itemised the list and Hadrian sighed with relief. Tim frowned suddenly realising the dangers of veritaserum and how specific the questions needed to be. He was glad Hadrian trusted him to help with this because honestly his husband was too emotionally involved in the situation.

"Do you have any idea who is stealing money from me?" Hadrian asked more specifically.

"No" Hermione replied.

"Why did you write that book about me Hermione? Didn't you know you were breaking my trust?"

"The number of lies being published was driving me crazy and Ron suggested I should tell the truth and set the record straight. As your best friend I'd be believed and it seemed the best way to combat all the people profiting from lying about you" Hermione explained. "Besides Ron wanted me to write it."

"If I told you how to find me could you keep it secret and not tell anyone?" Hadrian asked.

"I'd have to tell Ron if he asked. We have a traditional pureblood marriage" Hermione said.

"The kind of traditional pureblood marriage you want me to be subjected to. I thought you were my friend Hermione" Hadrian said sadly.

"I am your friend, you're my best friend" Hermione replied unemotionally due to the potion.

"How did you find me today?" Hadrian asked.

"I saw a man that looked a bit like you in the Alley yesterday but the way he moved convinced me that it was you. I didn't have time to approach you and I didn't want to make a scene in public so I cast a tracking charm."

"You couldn't have. I would have felt it hit me, my clothes are warded against charms. How did you find me?" Hadrian demanded wondering whether he should give her more veritaserum.

"The charm hit the man you were with" Hermione replied. "The man here now that you haven't introduced me to."

"What would you do if I told you this was my husband?" Hadrian asked looking at Tim.

"Ask if you are happy" Hermione replied.

"I am" Hadrian replied smiling, "what would you do now?"

"Be happy for you and try not to tell Ron and the Weasleys" Hermione said.

"Thank you" Hadrian said administering the antidote.

"How could you?" Hermione asked angrily trying to get up but finding herself still stuck to the chair.

"Hermione someone is trying to at the very least end the Potter line, and someone has stolen over 100,000 pound from me over the past year alone. And within hours of me setting foot back in the country you're here insisting that I come back and marry Ginny. Something you know very well isn't in my best interests. I needed to know you weren't involved in the rest of it."

"Please come home Harry" Hermione begged. "Even if you and Ginny don't get back together you are still family."

"Where we live it is illegal to place a tracking charm on anyone other than you own minor children without the persons permission. Attacks like this are the reason I don't ever want my family to live in Britain" Hadrian said angrily.

"I didn't attack him" Hermione exclaimed.

"What would you have don't if I wasn't with Tim when you found him?" Hadrian asked pointedly.

Hermione couldn't look at either of them. "I wouldn't have harmed him?"

Hadrian pulled out the vial he'd taken from her. "What's this?" he asked.

"It's not Veritaserum" Hermione protested.

"No but Tim was premature and has food allergies. Even I don't know for sure he wouldn't have an allergic reaction to this" Hadrian said sternly.

"You used a truth potion on me. A much stronger one than this too" Hermione said angrily.

"As an Auror I used a perfectly legal method of interrogation against someone who used an illegal tracking charm to find my partner and lied her way into the building for an unknown motive. Not to mention that you know damn well that I knew you weren't allergic to it" Hadrian retorted. "What would you have done if he had an anaphylactic reaction to the potion? Do you have an epi-pen or even a bezoar, a portkey to St Mungo's in case he had a reaction?"

"I'm sorry Harry" Hermione said cowed by the depth of his fear fuelled fury.

"I have a new home and a new family Hermione and I'm far safer there than I could ever be in wizarding Britain" Hadrian said. "I can be me there, not have to struggle and constantly fail to live up to some idealised image of a hero that doesn't really exist. And I can walk down the street and not have to worry about reporters, crazed fans, revenge attacks or people who think I owe them something for not killing Voldemort before the death eaters attacked their families."

"But what about a family?" Hermione asked, not wanting to say anything about the spell he'd been hit with because she didn't know that Tim already knew.

"I have a family Hermione. I'm married and we have two beautiful children. I still need a son for the Slytherin line but we want to wait a year or two before we have a third child."

"Are you going to let me go?" Hermione asked.

"I will when I'm ready to leave Hermione. I don't trust you not to come back with an ambush" Hadrian said spelling her to sleep, conjuring a box around the chair and casting a silencing charm on it.

Once she was out of sight Hadrian collapsed into Tim's arms. Tim hugged him tightly and reassured him that everything would be alright, that Hermione couldn't hurt him, Teddy or Rosie and had no claim on Teddy.

Eventually Hadrian calmed down and they continued sorting through the paper trail.

"What are you going to do about her?" Tim asked gesturing to the box.

"I don't know. I want to trust her but I don't trust a lot of the people she trusts and the oaths made on a pure blood marriage means she literally cannot lie to her husband"

"Even if she took an oath not to tell him?" Tim asked.

"I'd have to give her permission to tell him about the oath and hopefully he would back off because he wouldn't want her to lose her magic and be married to a squib but if he demanded it she would have to tell him and lose her magic. The marriage ritual would trump anything but an unbreakable vow" Hadrian explained.

Tim looked horrified. "And they want to force you into a marriage like that? Why on earth would this girl subject herself to that knowing you don't really love her?"

"She wouldn't. Her blood's purer than mine so I'd be forced to be the one vowing to obey" Hadrian said dryly.

"Would you have gone through with it if you hadn't been cursed?" Tim asked.

"I didn't find out about the way pureblood marriages worked until after I was cursed. I think they hoped I wouldn't realise that the promise to obey would literally be magically binding or maybe that I wouldn't find out about the vows until the day of the wedding in the hope I wouldn't be willing to back out and make a scene in front of everyone" Hadrian said sighing.

"Were our marriage vows magically binding like that?" Tim asked not sounding more than slightly concerned about it.

"We didn't vow to obey each other" Hadrian reminded him.

"Do you love me as much as you do because of the wedding vows?" Tim asked.

"I don't love you any more today than I did before we married" Hadrian said calmly. "My marriage vows prevent me from cheating on you which I never would have wanted to do anyway or from deliberately doing anything to hurt you but I can't imagine ever wanting to do that either. Your vows do the same but can you honestly say they've impacted your behaviour, you weren't tempted to cheat on me or hurt me before the wedding were you?"

"No of course not!" Tim refuted automatically. He was silent for several minutes thinking hard.

"Is that all?" he asked searchingly. "What other effects is it having on us?"

"It would prevent me from aborting our child even if you wanted me to, and it would prevent me from doing anything to disgrace you. The vows also probably help me to accept the need to keep your 'don't ask, don't tell' rules because they're important to your career."

"You don't know how sorry I am about that" Tim replied.

"Hey Gibbs, Jimmy and Ducky knew from the start and you would have told your team if they'd been willing to believe you were getting married. It's not your fault you took so long to trust them with this. It's not like I trust most of my British friends with our secrets either. And you tried to tell your parents even though you knew how they were likely to react.

"Back to what to do with Hermione I think I probably should obliviate her just to protect her" Hadrian said reluctantly.

"Obliviate?" Tim asked.

"Wipe her memory of meeting me today" Hadrian replied.

"You'd never do that to anyone back home would you?" Tim asked alarmed.

"I couldn't obliviate you, I love you too much to contemplate it even if our marriage vows didn't prevent me from using any offensive magic against you" Hadrian said wrapping his arms around Tim and kissing him. "The statute of secrecy is an international law that legally allows me to obliviate anyone who finds out about magic that doesn't have the right to know but I'm very careful not to use magic where I could be caught doing it."

"Does that mean if Tony went nosing around where he shouldn't be and saw something he shouldn't you'd have to obliviate him?" Tim asked.

"Yes but the wards prevent nosing around and tell me exactly who's in the house at the time. The real risk isn't me, Teddy has accidental magic episodes. Rosie's still too young for accidental magic but the healers are certain that she's a witch so she might in a year or so" Hadrian replied. "I'd do anything to protect them so I can't promise I won't have to obliviate Gibbs or your team one day but it hasn't happened yet and I wouldn't do it without telling you or at least telling you afterwards."

"I don't have a problem with you changing someone's memory to protect our family but how can that be legal? Surely our government didn't agree with your government memory wiping our citizens?" Tim said shocked.

"It came into law during the time of the Salem witch trials" Hadrian replied. "It was kind of hard to argue against allowing women and children to protect themselves from being burned alive. And indeed the number of mundanes put to death for witchcraft dropped dramatically once we separated ourselves from general knowledge."

A/N: Thank you to lilly-flower15, Kourtney Uzu Yato, charm13insomnia, dobbys-stinger, serenityselena, Firehedgehog, Reader Ethiriel, Almonda, LadyDrak75, xDarklightx, Serpent91, Selenity84, Rori Potter, DarkRavie, acherongoddess, buterflypuss, madnessdownunder2, julschristine975, DS2010, Locket1, lillisa34, Silvermane1, Fallow53 (Guest), lia (Guest), Merlenyn, Hyakhintos, Kimmiekitten75, Elle ananda, makennaclove, 88kellymarie, Lisa Doe, MariaNelson, souleater1234, bells7451, purpledixi, A3.14, love-fic-harrypotter28, xyxyxy11, mousehounde, Karakot, .9, SG-1agnus, SweetTormentedAngel, Alexy971, Li Morgan, Random26417, bell chelle, tirrou83, Nell1994 and Maria0030 for your support.


	51. Chapter 51

Chapter 51

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or NCIS or any of their characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do NOT give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

Not wanting to obliviate his friend himself, Hadrian contacted Robbards.

"What do you want to do?" Robbards asked. "I'm willing to obliviate all knowledge of you being in England from her but that would spell the total end of your friendship if she ever finds out. You, Ron and Hermione used to be best friends, isn't it worth trying to save some of that.

"I'd like to but I want to be able to sleep at night and move around muggle London without worrying about my safety and Tim's safety while we're here. Hermione might be willing to promise not to tell anyone but one question from Ron and she'll spill everything. We can't get around her marriage vows" Hadrian explained.

"How much longer are you going to be here?" Robbards asked.

"We have meetings through until Friday" Tim replied. He was attending all meetings with Hadrian, the one's with magical people he attended under Hadrian's invisibility cloak.

"Well what about you set up a meeting with Ron and Hermione for Friday, they can come to my office at six and pick up the portkey for wherever you want to set the meeting and I'll have them checked for tracking charms and escorted to the portkey area so that nobody can tag along?" Robbards suggested. "Then we can obliviate Hermione of this meeting so the only thing she remembers is to come and collect the portkey on Friday."

"It sounds like a good idea. I would like to get the opportunity to meet your childhood friends other than Neville" Tim encouraged.

"I want you to disarm both of them before you give them the portkey" Hadrian said.

"They aren't going to like it" Robbards commented.

"And I'm not going to let an armed man near Tim or the kids until I know he isn't going to try to hurt him" Hadrian said uncompromisingly. "And you know leaving Hermione armed is the same thing as leaving Ron his wand. So either they need to be disarmed or they need to swear a magical vow not to harm me or anyone else with me when they arrive."

"Are you going to have the kids there?" Tim asked.

"Maybe not at first, but nearby with Tollie so if things go well we can introduce them" Hadrian said.

"That sounds like a plan" Tim agreed.

"Ask her to bring her daughter too" Hadrian said.

"They're definitely not going to be willing to come unarmed if their baby is with them" Tim said.

"Hadrian sighed. "Yeah you're right" he agreed. "Tell her not to bring the baby."

Robbards side-along apparated Hermione to the ministry and obliviated her planting in her head the compulsion for her to arrange overnight babysitting for her baby and then bring her husband to the ministry to see Robbards at six o'clock on Friday.

Hermione looked at him furiously. "I was looking for Harry. Why am I here?" she demanded.

"Because Harry is working a case and I can't have civilians getting in the way. If you return on Friday and the case is over, then you'll be able to visit him" Robbards said firmly. "And Mrs Weasley, your family is the main reason I chose Potter for the overseas assignment. He couldn't work efficiently with all their interference so if you show up and interfere with the case again I will have you and any other Weasley involved arrested and you'll spend the rest of the week in Azkaban. Don't push me on this."

"But you promise I can see him on Friday" Hermione demanded.

"I promise that you'll see him when this investigation is completed. If it's not finished by Friday I may have to delay your visit a few days. I'll let you know" Robbards replied. "You may bring your husband and only your husband. Otherwise you won't see him at all."

"Thank you Chief Auror Robbards" Hermione said politely, resolving to keep her upcoming meeting with Harry secret until the last minute.

-o0o-

"From what I can see, these deductions have always occurred but they quadrupled in size on the beginning of August which is when the goblins noticed the drop in income" Tim said after looking back over the accounts.

"Were the original payments legitimate?" Hadrian asked.

"I'm searching for that now. They started occurring before the account records were computerised" Tim said. "They go to what looks like a dummy corporation, so I'm chasing where the money goes after that."

After some time, he sighed. "I can trace the account number where the money was sent. Most of it has been taken out in person after this but there's no name on the accounts" Tim said. "We'll have to try to get a warrant and take it to the branch."

"Which branch?" Hadrian asked.

"Metro Bank, Greater Whinging, Surrey" Tim replied.

Hadrian sighed. "The Dursleys" he replied.

"Your relatives?" Tim asked.

"The aunt and uncle who brought me up. They live in Little Whinging. If you check the old account books you'll find that the payments start sometime after the first of November 1981" Hadrian replied his anger growing.

Tim walked over and hugged his husband. "Are you okay?" He asked.

"I'm beyond being able to be hurt by their actions" Hadrian replied. "Stealing my money is a very small betrayal compared to the abuse I suffered growing up with them. What does piss me off is remembering all the times they insulted my parents for leaving me penniless. All the times they complained of how much I cost them. I knew they were exaggerating. They never bought me anything and begrudged me the scraps from their table, and all this time they were stealing my money."

"Are you going to prosecute them?" Tim asked.

"Yeah I am" Hadrian said. "I let the way they treated me go because I just wanted to put it behind me and I didn't want to deal with the publicity that prosecuting them would cause. But the goblins found this money going missing. I'll lose their respect if I let them get away with it and goblins have long memories. Teddy and Rosie's grandchildren could still be penalised if my actions lead to them no longer respecting the house of Potter. They've tied my hands."

"I wonder why the sudden increase?" Tim asked. "If they were content with a consistent amount for so long why change now."

"Perhaps they found out I was no longer living in England and felt safe taking more, or perhaps Dudley found out what his Dad was doing and demanded a share of the action. He always was a greedy little bugger" Hadrian suggested.

They left the office thanking the staff for their time and attention and complimenting them again on the efficiency and feeling of teamwork and camaraderie in the office. Hadrian stopped at Harrods and sent them a huge gift basket of biscuits, snacks and specialist teas with a thankyou card signed as Lord Potter.

"You know you would have paid half as much for that anywhere else" Tim said amused by the extravagance from his usual practical husband.

"Yeah but the staff will get a bigger thrill out of this one from Harrods" Hadrian said grinning. "Beside we put them out quite a bit by just showing up and they were really polite about the hassle. I'm thinking that if we can prove that the South London office is involved with the thefts we'll close that branch and give the area to East London to manage. Their office could use an upgrade anyway.

Tim was able to call in at New Scotland Yard and present the results of their searches, having the owner of the company present to confirm they had his full permission and co-operation made obtaining the warrants for the PGC South London office and the account the money was being paid into easy and they were ready to move first thing next morning.

In the meantime, Hadrian had met with Quincy and organised the move of the East London Office to new larger more modern premises. The new office was only a couple of blocks from the old one and came with its own underground parking so nobody should be inconvenienced by the move. Tim hearing the plans also arranged to meet with the IT company that serviced the offices to make sure that there wouldn't be any technical glitches and any hardware upgrades that the office had been asking for were included in the fit out of the new office space.

-o0o-

Quincy also took them to see the site where Potter Manor had stood, now a pile of ruins. "The curses be all broken nows. It be safes to rebuild if youse wanteds Master Hadrians" he said.

"How much land is there?" Hadrian asked.

"20 acres, but it be completely surrounded by houses now" Quincy said showing them. "The views not be pretty anymore."

"I have enough homes Quincy. Is there a market for rental housing in this area if we developed the land?"

"Yes Master Hadrians!" Quincy nodded enthusiastically. "This be less than 30 mile from London. Coulds makes lots of profit with expensive houses."

"No nice family homes and a safe park for children to play" Hadrian decided. Draw up plans for about 100 houses on the estate. Is the nearby school able to handle the increase?"

"Its be small and old" Quincy said nervously.

"Well lets go take a look at it" Hadrian replied.

"Quincy was right the school looked dilapidated and the play area was tiny, surrounded by relocatable classrooms. They met with the principle who didn't look at all keen to welcome extra children.

"How many children attend school here?" Tim asked.

"Seven hundred and eight. What levels are your children? I have places available in grades two three and five. The other grades are at capacity for this year" she said apologetically.

"The playground doesn't look anywhere near big enough for seven hundred children. Do you have access to other spaces to play?" Hadrian asked.

"The grades five and six are allowed to go across to the oval and the littlies go out at a separate time than the older grades" the principle explained. "Of course, the children also sneak into the manor grounds to play. We try to stop them but the groundskeepers don't seem to mind."

Hadrian frowned. "I'm making plans to develop that land into housing" he said.

"Family housing?" the principle asked in dread.

"Yes, the land could support approximately 100 family homes" Hadrian replied watching her reaction.

"There's no way we could take that many extra children and the next nearest school is several miles away and also bursting at the seams" she told them.

"Is the secondary school experiencing the same problems?" Hadrian asked.

The principle sighed. "Yes, if anything it's worse" she pointed out the window at what looked like a three-story factory. "The building up on the hill is our current secondary school and it's scheduled to close at the end of the year because the building requires too much maintenance to bring it up to passing the building codes. The children will be split up among four neighbouring schools three of whom don't really have the room for them.

Hadrian nodded. "Thank you for your time." He said taking his leave.

"What are you going to do?" Tim asked.

"Contact the office that manages this area and get them to talk to the education department about building them a new school" Hadrian replied. "If we own the school we can ward it to keep the children safe. I imagine the secondary school has just as many problems but I'll leave that to the planners."

"Two schools will take up quite a lot of the land" Tim said.

"Yes, but if the education department leases the schools from me then we'll still make a return on our investment eventually" Hadrian said.

"Do you think they'll let you own the schools?" Tim asked.

"They have in other areas I've developed, and while it would be cheaper in the long run for them to build their own new schools they might not have the money to actually do it now when it's needed. And this land is mine already so it's not like I'm increasing my holdings."

"Shall we go to the next property?" Tim suggested.

"Sure" Hadrian agreed. "Quincy" he called.

"Yes Master Hadrians and Master Tims" Quincy popped back.

"Change the plans for this area to include a primary school large enough for at least 900 children and a secondary school as well. You'll need to get the numbers from the current school" Hadrian ordered. "We're ready to see the next property."

This time they popped onto a well maintained formal drive. The house looked in reasonable condition but had a forbidding air to it. "This be Black Abbey" Quincy said.

"This will be Teddy's as an adult" Hadrian told Tim.

Tim shuddered as they entered "I don't like the feel of it" he said.

"No the house feels very dark" Hadrian agreed. "Quincy I think this house might need the curse breakers to go through it."

"That's bes done Master Hadrians and Master Tims" Quincy replied.

"Then what's causing the problem" Hadrian asked.

"Lord Black warded house unfriendlies Master Hadrians" Quincy said.

"Tear down the wards and start again. I want the same wards we have on the house we live in, and activate the full war wards" Hadrian ordered. "We will come back and look at it then and see what else need doing."

"Doo's yous want to look at the next properties Master Hadrians and Master Tims?" Quincy asked.

"I think we've done enough for today Quincy" Tim decided, still feeling unsettled by Black Abbey.

"We'll call you when we're finished looking into the theft and ready to look at more houses tomorrow" Hadrian added. "Thank you for showing us around today, I know you're busy."

-o0o-

The warrants came though on schedule and Tim and Hadrian arrived and took over the South East London office of PGC. The staff were all surprised but co-operative. "I don't understand, PGC is a reputable corporation. We have always had a good co-operation with the local constabulary" the manager said handing over the keys to the office.

"We're not investigating PGC, there's a 100,000-pound discrepancy in the receipts and deposits from this office this year.

The manager looked shocked. "I've known most of these staff for years, none of them would do such a thing" he protested weakly.

And yet the money is still missing" Tim replied calmly.

He went through everything and quickly came to the conclusion that the money was going missing during the exchange to Gringotts. The full amount was deposited in the muggle bank that served as the liaison and then a withdrawal was made prior to the amount being transferred to Gringotts at the end of the day. The staff at the office were still under suspicion though because the deposit sat in the muggle bank for less than an hour before being transferred and someone had to know what time the deposits were made to make the illegal transfer while the money was in the account.

"Who deposits the money into the metro account?" Tim asked.

Hadrian silently cast a spell to promote truthfulness, it could be fought but Tim would pick up on anyone making the effort to do so. They'd practiced this in the past with Hadrian casting the spell on himself and with Neville's and Hannah's willing co-operation.

"I do" one man said nervously.

"What's your name?"

"Andrew Baulch" the man replied.

"And who else knows what time you transfer the money each day?" Hadrian asked.

"I assume most of the staff in the office know I do it at the end of the day" Andrew said thoughtfully, careful not to look at any of his colleagues as he metaphorically threw them under the bus.

"But last Wednesday you were late depositing the money and the thief was also late trying to take out his cut. So who specifically knows exactly what time you make the transfer each day?" Tim asked.

"Anyone who is in the office at the time would because it's the last thing I do before I go home. But anyone who has worked here in the past could also be in the street waiting to see me leave and know the deposit was made" Andrew said.

"Or anyone that you've told about that part of your job" Hadrian said cynically.

"I haven't…" Andrew began then after a moment's pause said sadly, "only my mum and dad."

He took a deep breath and admitted "Dad bragged for weeks when I got this position. He could have told everyone he came into contact with all about it" Andrew said morosely, "But he would never have stolen the money or been any part of helping someone steal it."

Hadrian thought for a moment, Andrew was a similar age to Vernon Dursley. "What do your father and your brother do for a living?" he asked.

"Dad's was an accountant and Richard a bookkeeper" Andrew replied. "They work for Grunnings Drill Company. Dad's retired now of course."

"With Vernon Dursley" Hadrian said sighing.

"That still doesn't explain how he knew that PGC was yours" Tim replied.

"We need to speak with him" Hadrian said. "Can you write down your father's name and address."

"This will break his heart" Andrew said sadly as he wrote out the information and handed it over.

"My Dad didn't mean any harm officer, I'm sure he didn't."

"We need to officially clear him of any involvement and get his statement so we can go after the real criminal."

"You knew before you came in here who was stealing the money" the manager accused.

"We knew a little about where the money ended up which gave us a potential suspect but we needed the evidence of how it was done to confirm that and we weren't sure no-one in the office was involved."

After speaking with Andrew's father who sadly confirmed it was possible he had inadvertently passed on enough information to Vernon Dursley years ago to enable the timing of the thefts, they approached the bank. Reading through the records Tim confirmed that the transfers did in fact start in November 1981 within days of Harry arriving in his relatives care and that the transfer had originally been set up by Albus Dumbledore to automatically deposit a certain amount in Vernon and Petunia Dursley's joint account each week as child support until July 1997. Following this, double the amount was removed via computer transfer each month, the amount then quadrupled in August this year. The back manager was incredibly embarrassed to realise that none of the withdrawals after July 1997 had the account holder's approval and there wasn't even any record of the bank staff having checked for these approvals. He also had grown up living in a PBC home and it wasn't until he moved out and had to deal with other landlords realised how lucky he'd been. The fact that he'd allowed money to be stolen from the company that made his parents lives so much easier than it could've been made him feel sick to the stomach.

"We will immediately freeze Mr Dursleys account and any other private accounts he transfers money into, until such time as the courts decide on the amount to be returned to the PBC account" he offered. We also hold the mortgage on Mr Dursley's house, 4 Privet Drive which we could foreclose on unless Dursley can prove the loan payments were never made with the money stolen from the PGC account."

"Video footage in the branch explained the increase in the amount stolen. Hadrian identified the man drawing the money out and depositing it into his account up until the 4th of August as Vernon Dursley but the week after that a younger man began making the transfer.

"I think that's Dudley Dursley but I haven't seen him since he was seventeen so I couldn't be sure" Hadrian said.

The bank manager eager to be as helpful as possible checked the records and volunteered the information. Money is transferred into his account at just after the withdrawals from the PGC account. The timing fits."

Satisfied with the level of evidence the police ordered the locals to bring Dudley, Vernon and Petunia Dursley in for questioning. From there the Aurors took over wiping the muggle's memories and Hadrian and Tim went to collect the Dursleys. The goblins were unable to act outside their bank and the Aurors would have wanted to try them in the wizarding world if they'd arrested them, so Hadrian was left to organise for them to be fooled into agreeing to be portkey end to the bank to sort things out. Tim had stood by with his gun out ready to shoot either of them if they'd tried to attack Hadrian while Hadrian had described in detail how the goblins would strip them of everything they owned in reparation for the theft if they couldn't justify the withdrawals from the corporation accounts. Vernon and Dudley foolishly believed the fake invoices would convince the goblins that the payments were genuine and no more than they were owed. Petunia had her doubts but in the end her belief that her husband and son could do no wrong stopped her from arguing and the three of them willingly agreed to meet at Hadrian's accountant's office which was actually a shop front with a portal through to Gringotts.

Sharprock allowed the three to be interviewed together, trusting Hadrian's decription of his uncle's and cousin's tempers and hatred for their nephew/cousin. He sent Hadrian in to see if the two idiots would save him the cost of the Veritaserum and confess voluntarily.

"You can't prove it. Dad said that if you try to press charges you'll have to explain where the money goes and you'll be had up for tax fraud" Dudley said triumphantly.

"My taxes are fully paid which I more than I can say for you or your father since I'm sure you never declared this income" Hadrian replied.

"Still your money doesn't stay in our world so you can't prove it's missing" Vernon yelled.

"Yeah and we're not wizards and it's not your stupid wizard money that was stolen so we can't be tried in your world either" Dudley gloated. "You can't even make us give it back since it's all been spent."

"You are right that the Wizengamot wouldn't try you for theft of my money if it occurred in the muggle world" Hadrian agreed grinning. "Oh no Dudley, it's far worse than that. Gringotts handles all my money. And Gringotts is run by goblins. The treaty we have with them allows them to prosecute you for the theft and goblin justice is far worse than wizarding or muggle justice would be. For example, your justice system doesn't allow hard labour or thieves to be eaten by dragons" Hadrian grinned wickedly. "And I assure you that the powers that be know enough about our world to know how important it is that they don't break the treaty to prevent another goblin war and the failure of the economy, wizarding and muggle. They will allow you to be prosecuted by Gringotts, and you might be surprised how much of the money they'll be able to recover. Not that it will matter to you"

"We earned that money taking you in and putting up with you" Petunia declared.

"Not according to my parents' wills you didn't. Legally you could only claim the expenses that were actually for me."

"We housed and clothed and fed you for sixteen years" Vernon yelled furiously.

"Yes of course, and you no doubt can prove that you bought me food, clothes, toys, school supplies and bedroom furniture" Hadrian sneered. "The goblins wont be interested in your receipts. You'll need to provide the goblins memories of me sitting at your table eating full meals, decently dressed, playing with my toys, reading my new schoolbooks in my nicely appointed room?"

Petunia paled and held her hands to her head as if to protect her memories from being stolen.

"But even that only relates to the money that Dumbledore approved to be transferred before I turned seventeen. There's no justification possible for the money you stole after that" Hadrian added.

"What money?" Petunia asked confused.

"You really didn't know? You didn't notice the increase in income when you should have been expecting a decrease as my parents' estate stopped paying you for your so-called care?"

"Noo" Petunia whispered fearfully, "Vernon please tell me you didn't?"

Sharprock entered the room. "Thank you Lord Potter, we will collect the memories in question and assign the appropriate punishments. Their assets will be seized and your money will be retrieved."

"Thank you Sharprock, a pleasure doing business with you."

"And you as well Lord Potter." That was clearly a dismissal so Hadrian left his account manager to finish dealing with the thieves.

-o0o-

"Goblin justice is rather barbaric" Tim said hesitantly.

"It is, but Vernon was right, it would be extremely difficult to prosecute this in the muggle world. Especially as Gringotts noticed the discrepancy and started the investigation. If you're disturbed by the extreme punishment for what is basically stealing some of our excess income keep in mind that these people are guilty of criminal child neglect and multiple counts of child abuse bordering on attempted murder. There is no way I would have survived my childhood without magic helping keep me alive" Hadrian replied. "If it had been anyone else I would have had Gringotts reclaim the money and turn the evidence over to the muggle police."

"Will they really be eaten?" Tim asked.

Hadrian laughed. "I doubt it. Goblins don't eat humans. They will set them to work until they've worked off their debt. Dudley and Vernon will probably will end up shovelling dragon dung for the rest of their lives."

Tim laughed. "I think I can live with that" he said remembering some of the things Hadrian had let slip about his childhood.

Hadrian and Tim chose not to watch what passed for a goblin trial. They'd heard enough to know that Vernon and Dudley were guilty when they'd gone to help arrest them and knowing that justice would be brutal. Hadrian tried to put it out of his mind but this new insult from the Dursleys and having to see them again brought back memories he had spent years trying to bury.

-o0o-

A/N: Thank you to Kaorilamb, Locket1, Firehedgehog, Kourtney Uzu Yato, Rori Potter, MageVicky, DarkRavie, dobbys-stinger, Sakura Lisel, Village-Mystic, lilly-flower15, charm13insomnia, Books-A-Plenty, buterflypuss, julschristine975, xDarklightx, Naezee, Lientjuhh, acherongoddess, madnessdownunder2, DS2010, serenityselena, Guest, lia (Guest), Merlenyn, Fallow53 (Guest), Serpent91, Maben00, Silvermane1, kimbarn30, Schlaubi, vampireloversw, Vampiero101, Vesania Insania, MOKA CASTILLO, IceBluePhoenix, , NamikazeYuki08, w1362713, Kilare T'suna, SakuraLove1928, 1, starkresurection, Moose22244128, gamerman5603, Roxanne Le Fay, Regina'sMusic, Duochanfan, ElphieTMoLM, dannibaby, marky802, LiAmi, StorySharer, merthugirl89, Ethiliam, TheDevilInDisguise, Midnight Marauder, GardenViper, Lyane Satigre, Astroorbiterboom and shelljax for your support.


	52. Chapter 52

Chapter 52

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or NCIS or any of their characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do NOT give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

Ron was complaining as they left Rose at Molly's on Friday night. Hermione was cursing that she hadn't finished work early enough to drop the baby off before Ron got home and praying that he'd stick to complaining and not order her to stay at his mother's before she could get him alone to explain.

"Why do we have to go out for dinner, Mione. Mum's cooking my favourite foods."

"There's plenty for you both if you'd like to stay" Molly said beaming.

"Sorry Molly but we already have plans" Hermione said tightening her hold on Ron and dragging him out the door. As soon as they were far enough out of the wards she side-along apparated them both to the ministry apparition point.

"What are we doing here?" Ron asked crossly.

"Meeting Auror Robbards to collect something we need" Hermione replied dismissively.

"And you couldn't have done your errand while I was at work?" Ron grumbled.

"No I couldn't, Robbards needs to give this directly to you" Hermione said trying to get him to co-operate without telling him why.

Luckily, when they arrived on the right floor they were shown straight into Robbards office.

"Take a seat" Robbards said.

"What's going on?" Ron demanded.

"Take a seat and I will explain" Robbards said. Once they were seated he activated the sticking charms on the chairs to slow the hot-headed man down. "I have a message from Potter and if certain conditions are met, a portkey for you to visit him."

"Is Harry okay?" Ron asked anxiously. "When is he coming home?"

"He's fine, but his assignment has been extended, He was in town meeting with us and he wants to see the two of you before he goes back to work" Robbards replied.

"Where is he then?" Ron demanded looking around.

"There are a few conditions I need you to complete before I can give you the portkey. You can either swear an oath or surrender your wand and any weapons you might have on your person" Robbards explained.

"What the hell!" Ron shouted trying to stand up.

"Ron, do you want to see Harry or not?" Hermione asked. "Auror Robbards, it might help if Ronald could read the oath you want him to make."

Robbards handed it over and Hermione read it through before pulling out her wand and making the vow. "I vow not to harm through my actions or my orders to Harry James Potter or anyone I meet while meeting with Harry James Potter. So mote it be."

She handed the card to Ron. Make the vow Ron or I'll go and have dinner with Harry by myself and you can go home and have dinner with your parents" she ordered.

"I'm not vowing that" Ron said flatly.

"Then you are willing to be disarmed before you go to visit Potter?" Robbards asked pulling out his wand.

"What no!" Ron protested.

"You have three choices, you make the oath, you are disarmed before I give you the portkey or your wife goes to visit her friend without you" Robbards repeated.

"Harry's my friend too" Ron declared.

"And yet you don't want to see him" Robbards pointed out.

"Of course I want to see him" Ron yelled.

"Then take the oath or let me disarm you, your choice" Robbards said firmly.

"Why should I have to. He's my friend" Ron retorted angrily.

"Because that's the only way you're going to get your hands on this portkey" Robbards replied. "Mr Potter himself set the conditions."

"Why doesn't he trust me?" Ron said hurt.

"He doesn't trust your temper. You did assault him before he left the country" Hermione pointed out.

"That was different, he…"

"Ginny told you he'd got her pregnant and you believed the lie instead of trusting your best friend, the thing is, Harry has no idea what lies Ginny's been telling about him lately" Hermione replied.

"But…"

Hermione could see that Ron would argue all night or until Robbards lost his patience and kicked them out without giving them the portkey. She pulled out her wand, pointing it at Ron and cast "Expelliarmus", disarming him before handing her own wand to Robbards.

Robbards quickly cast a magical item revealing spell over both of them before removing a couple of WWW items from Ron and handing them the portkey. "The password is old friends".

"Thanks, Ron said pocketing the portkey and preparing to leave the room. He was prevented by the guards.

"You need to leave from here" Robbards said.

Ron looked like he wanted to argue but Hermione grabbed the portkey out of his pocket, forced his hand on it and activated it. Moments later they arrived at a house in the countryside.

"Where are we?" Ron asked.

"A muggle holiday let in Cornwall" Hadrian replied. "It's ours for the weekend" he added not telling them that they'd be gone within minutes of Ron and Hermione leaving.

"Harry" Hermione screeched tackling/hugging him. Then stepping back as her memories of seeing him during the week were returned to her. "You obliviated me?" she asked faintly. "You interrogated me and obliviated me?"

"Robbards did" Hadrian replied. "You tried to cast a tracking spell on me, did cast one on Tim and followed us into the middle of an investigation. I didn't want to risk you going home and telling Ron or Molly where to find me and having a big row attracting everyone's attention to the fact we were law enforcement, enabling the thief to get away."

Hermione noticed Tim standing off to the side and wondered what he was doing there. Hadrian saw her looking and turned and smiled at Tim.

"This is my partner Tim, Tim these are my best school friends Hermione Weasley nee Granger and Ron Weasley" Hadrian introduced them knowing that both Ron and Hermione would assume he meant Auror partner. He didn't want to outright lie to his friends but didn't want to cause an argument straight away either.

"Hello Tim" Hermione said pleasantly.

"Hermione, Hadrian's told me a lot about the two of you" Tim replied.

"He's never mentioned you" Ron replied obnoxiously.

"He hasn't spent much time in England in the last few years so I'm not surprised he had better things to talk about when he caught up with you" Tim replied not taking offence.

"You were working on the computers the other day. Are you muggleborn?" Hermione asked.

"Hermione in the rest of the world it is considered unpardonably rude to ask a person their blood status" Hadrian snapped. "It is totally irrelevant anyway."

"Oh I'm sorry" Hermione apologised.

"That's okay, Hades explained how different things are here" Tim replied.

"Why do you call him Hades?" Hermione asked.

"It's a nickname just like Harry is. He doesn't want to be called Harry in his new country so we either use his full name or I call him Hades."

"What do you mean Harry's a nickname? It's his name" Ron said belligerently.

"Actually, it isn't" Hadrian replied. "It's the name that the Daily Prophet called me when they reported my parents' deaths that Halloween and everyone assumed it was my name."

"What do you mean when you say blood status is irrelevant?" Hermione asked.

"You know yourself that it isn't a good predictor of magical strength or intelligence" Hadrian replied. "It's only in Britain and to a lesser extent in Europe that they favour the purebloods. Discrimination is illegal in most countries Hermione and while a lot of people know that someone could be muggleborn if they don't know their family they're not allowed to ask or discriminate."

"How do they prevent it?" Hermione asked.

"Applicants for Auror and Healing training or magical universities are accepted purely on their NEWT scores the way non-magical universities do" Hadrian said. "Private masters can accept an apprentice on such things as family relationships but there is a minimum level that even your own family members would have to meet to be accepted for an accredited mastery. There are no where near as many purebloods either as there's no pureblood elite culture or betrothal agreements. In fact, it's actively discouraged in a lot of places because marrying relatives increases the rate of squib births. I work with over a hundred Aurors and I have never heard any of them identify themselves as a pureblood. It just is irrelevant."

"Did you find out who was stealing from PGC?" Hermione asked.

"Tim did. It was the Dursleys" Hadrian replied dryly.

"Those bastards!" Ron yelled angrily. "You should have them locked up for life. Or at least let the twins prank them for you."

"Surely you're not going to let them get away with this as well?" Hermione asked.

"Couldn't even if I wanted to. The goblins were already involved in the investigation" Hadrian replied.

"Are you going to have to come back for the trial?" Hermione asked hopefully.

Hadrian shook his head. "There won't be a trial. Not the sort you mean. The goblins reviewed the evidence and they found it sufficient to take further. They arrested the Dursleys this afternoon and used truth potions to determine who was responsible. Vernon and Dudley were both sentenced to one hundred and two hundred years respectively. Dudley is cleaning up after the dragons but because of Vernon's employment in a drill company, he'll be on one of the mining teams. Petunia got ten years because even though she wasn't involved in the theft she benefited and they proved she did know they were stealing from me and didn't do anything to prevent the theft.

"Do you know what she'll be doing?" Hermione asked.

"No" Hadrian replied. "And I don't particularly care."

"I don't think I've ever seen a female goblin" Hermione commented.

"I'm not sure if you could tell under the armour they wear" Hadrian said laughing.

"Of course they're not female. The guards are warriors" Ron argued.

"Ron your wife, your sister and your mother all fought in the final battle. I would say they're warriors too" Hadrian replied. "And there's plenty of female Aurors."

"Yeah but they're fierce and scary" Ron replied.

"You used to say Hermione was brilliant but scary" Hadrian said amused. "And I think even Voldemort himself would have been afraid of one of your mum's rants if he couldn't use magic to protect himself from it."

Hermione laughed and Ron glared at her.

"You've got to admit your mum's scary. I've seen all your brothers try to avoid one of her talking to's" Hermione said.

"But the goblin guards are ugly" Ron exclaimed making the others laugh again.

"To us, but I'm sure Hermione thinks male goblins are ugly compared to you too Ron" Tim suggested.

"It's impossible to apply modern western standards of beauty to another culture."

Ron looked confused and wanted to argue but a pointed glare from Hermione made him change the subject.

"So are you seeing anyone?" Ron asked.

"Why are you asking?" Hadrian replied.

"What do you mean?" Ron asked confused.

"Yes I'm seeing someone seriously and no I am never going to be interested in dating or marrying your sister" Hadrian said firmly.

"She'll be disappointed to hear that" Hermione said.

"She shouldn't be surprised though. I was quite clear with my intentions before I left. Nothing has changed" Hadrian reminded his friends.

"What's this girl got that Ginny doesn't have?" Ron asked slightly upset.

"I don't think you want me to answer that" Hadrian said.

"Why not?" Ron was starting to get angry now.

"You're not going to like the answer" Hadrian warned him.

"No seriously, why is this girl so much better than my sister. Ginny made some mistakes but she was just young. You ought to give her a second chance."

"The ability to listen and compromise so we spend our time together doing things we both enjoy, the ability to make me fall in love without spells or potions. The ability to fit in in the non-magical world. I could go on" Hadrian replied.

Ron started to get up. "Sit down Ron. You know I'm telling the truth" Harry said tiredly.

"What is she like?" Hermione asked.

"Is she the muggle you told me about last time I saw you?"

"Yeah but he's not a muggle, his parents refused to send him to a magical school and chose to have his magic bound" Hadrian said bracing for the explosion.

Like expected, Hermione realised what Hadrian had said before her husband did. She gasped and looked questioningly back and forth between Harry and Tim. Harry caught her glances and nodded.

Hermione smiled slightly.

"He? You're dating a bloke?" Ron asked appalled.

"Yeah Ron, I'm in love with a man" Hadrian said calmly.

"You can't be" Ron said blankly. He shoved back from the table grabbing Hermione and then the portkey. It didn't activate and he stormed towards the door.

Harry stunned him in the back and Hermione turned to glare at him. "Are you going to obliviate him too?" she asked still angry about what must have happened when she'd gone looking for Harry the other day. Even if his explanation made sense, she thought he should have just explained the situation and trusted her.

"It's up to you. I really don't care who knows, anyone who stopped wanting to know me over this isn't worth knowing anyway. But Ron's never going to let you speak to me again if I don't. Is that what you want?" Hadrian asked harshly.

Hermione looked heartbroken at the thought. "You're my only true friend" she said.

"Then don't stop me from obliviating him. I can obliviate you too if you think it will help" Hadrian said quietly.

"Do you want some extra time to decide?" Tim asked.

Hadrian nodded and drew her away from Ron and next to Tim who looped the time-turner chain around their necks flipping the device twice.

Hadrian led her into the kitchen diner pushed her into the easy chair in the corner. "Rest Hermione, you look tired" he said starting to prepare them all a snack since dinner now wouldn't be for another couple of hours.

"You don't trust me" Hermione said noticing that Harry and his partner were watching her closely.

"I don't trust Ron while he's so angry and with the marriage vows you've got he could easily use you as a weapon" Hadrian replied.

Hermione shuddered at the realisation. Hadrian was right not to trust her, she couldn't trust herself while Ron had that much power over her.

Hermione sat thinking. "If you don't obliviate me and he notices somethings up he'll ask me about it won't he? And I'll have to tell him the truth?" she asked as Hadrian brought over her food.

"Yes, but if I obliviate both of you you're more likely to notice than he is and you would still probably tell him" Hadrian said.

"Not if you order us not to notice as you obliviate us" Hermione suggested.

"I'd have to get Robbards to do it. I haven't had much practice obliviating" Hadrian replied.

"I don't want to be obliviated" Hermione decided. "But I understand that you need to obliviate Ron, I won't try to stop you."

"Thanks Hermione" Hadrian said grinning.

"Are you two really Auror partners?" Hermione asked.

"No Tim works in a different branch of law enforcement than I do though we have had one joint case so far" Hadrian replied.

"And are you a serious couple?" Hermione asked.

"We're married" Tim replied.

"So, does that mean he knows about..." Hermione trailed off not sure how to ask without telling Tim what Hadrian might not want him to know.

"He knows pretty much everything about my life Hermione" Hadrian replied smiling. "But if you're asking about the curse I was hit with shortly before leaving Britain, yes. That's how we found out that he'd had his magic bound and wasn't a muggle" Hadrian said wryly.

"You fell pregnant? How far along are you?" Hermione asked excitedly.

"Our daughter is almost five months old" Hadrian replied. "We call her Rosie but her real name is Rose. You didn't tell me about your baby so I didn't know you'd also called her Rose."

Hermione laughed. "We that will be interesting when they go to Hogwarts" she said.

Hadrian and Tim didn't tell her that their Rosie was likely to go to Salem institute instead of Hogwarts.

"Are you moving back to England. I know you sold Grimmauld Place to a developer which was a good idea. I looked through it when the flats went up for lease, they've done a lovely job, you wouldn't know the place it looks so cheerful and homelike."

"I know, Quincy showed me the photo's, it's a PGC building now Hermione" Hadrian replied. "Try and sleep Hermione you really do look exhausted. Hannah told us about you brewing the potions for Fred and George."

"Hannah Longbottom?" Hermione asked appalled. "Oh God, if she knows then everyone will know by the end of the weekend. Ron will be furious that the twins and I tricked him like that."

"Hannah's known since July" Tim said. "I know she's a bit of a gossip but she told Hades because she was worried about you. She thinks that Ron is being unreasonable about letting you work and that it's a huge joke against him that you earn the money he's being paid. But I'm sure she wouldn't tell anyone that would tell Ron."

"Sleep Hermione, and stop worrying. I'll wake you when it's time" Hadrian ordered. "Do you want a potion?"

"No thanks" Hermione said yawning.

"How much has Hermione changed since the wedding?" Tim asked, watching the sleeping woman.

"I almost don't recognise her, physically or behaviourally" Hadrian replied. "The old Hermione was all about individuals' rights and logical arguments, she just about assaulted Ginny when she found out the little witch was potioning me and now she seems to think it wasn't serious at all."

Tim frowned. "Could her memories have been altered?" he asked.

"No, she still seems to remember the incidents" Hadrian replied thoughtfully. "She could have been told to stop fussing about the potions and to encourage me to take Ginny back though. She would have had to obey if Ron told her to."

"But she didn't tell you that when you questioned her" Tim reminded him.

"No but we didn't ask her why she thought I should forgive Ginny for potioning me, only why she was trying to persuade me to get back with her" Hadrian said thoughtfully, thinking back through their interrogation.

"You mean that her husband can tell her what to think?" Tim said looking sick.

"I'm not sure, he can certainly order her to take a particular side of an argument and she would but whether that would cause her to actually agree with him or just to behave as if she did, I don't know" Hadrian replied. "I've got to try to help her somehow."

Tim nodded, he couldn't imagine leaving anyone in the situation Hermione found herself in and though he didn't yet have any reason to like the woman who Hadrian referred to mostly as a former friend, he was prepared to give her the benefit of the doubt and hope if they could find a way to allow her to make her own choices in life she would become the friend Hadrian remembered.

-o0o-

Tim and Hadrian heard noises in the other room indicating the Weasleys had arrived and Hadrian gently woke Hermione. "You've just arrived. I thought you might like a minute to clean up."

"Thanks Harry" Hermione said following his directions to the bathroom.

"You should obliviate him, you're better at the spell than I am" Hadrian said to Hermione as they prepared to enter the room as soon as they heard themselves leave.

"I can't" Hermione said baldly. She would have hexed Ron senseless by now if her vows hadn't prevented it.

Harry obliviated Ron of the last conversation after talking about the goblin women. Then hauled him back into his chair and they all took their places before he enervated him.

"So are you seeing anyone?" Ron asked again.

"Why are you asking?" Hadrian replied.

"What do you mean?" Ron asked confused.

"Yes I'm seeing someone seriously and no I am never going to be interested in dating or marrying your sister" Hadrian said firmly.

"She'll be disappointed to hear that" Hermione said. "But I can't say I'm surprised after what she did."

"She shouldn't be surprised either. I was quite clear with my intentions before I left. Nothing has changed" Hadrian reminded his friends. "I cannot and will not trust a witch who was prepared to potion me into a life I didn't want."

"Ginny made a mistake" Ron protested.

"Ginny used mind altering potions, which is a criminal offence. The only reason I didn't have her prosecuted was for the sake of the rest of your family but that doesn't change the fact that I feel she assaulted me" Hadrian said bluntly. "I still have nightmares about what might have happened if I hadn't been injured enough for the healer to do a comprehensive scan before the wedding."

Ron couldn't argue against that and silence fell for a few moments as they enjoyed their meal.

"When are we going to meet your girlfriend?" Ron asked. "I need to check her out if you think the goblins are attractive."

"I don't have a girlfriend. I'm married" Hadrian replied dryly. "And I didn't say I found female goblins attractive just that male goblins favoured female goblins over female humans."

"Why didn't you invite us to the wedding?" Ron asked.

"When can we meet her?" Hermione asked.

"Probably never" Hadrian replied.

"What? Why not?" Hermione asked acting affronted.

"Because I just tried to tell you and Ron about them and introduce them already this evening and he reacted so badly I had to obliviate both of you for my family's safety" Hadrian sad bluntly.

"Why obliviate me because of Ron's behaviour. That's not fair Harry" Hermione argued, acting angry so Ron wouldn't realise she had agreed to keep the secret.

"Because you vowed to obey him which means you have to tell him anything he demands to know. So you can't know anything that he can't know" Hadrian explained in a tone he would use to explain things to Teddy for the tenth time. They had to make this believable or Hermione would suffer.

So you'll never trust me again?" Hermione asked in a small voice, genuinely heartbroken at the thought of permanently losing her best friend. She needed Ron to hear this so he knew he couldn't use her to manipulate her friend that way.

"I would like to Hermione but so long as Ron is bound and determined to encourage or manipulate me to be with his sister whether I want to be or not and your marriage vows won't let you say no to his orders I can't trust either of you" Hadrian said sadly.

Tim though thought of something. "Couldn't they use the ceremony we used to add more vows?" he asked.

"What do you mean more vows?" Hadrian asked curiously.

"I'm already trapped by the vows I made why would I want to make more?" Hermione replied.

"To even things up. Perhaps Ron could vow to consider your opinions and try not to make decisions he knew would make you unhappy, to respect your friendships, give you the choice of how many more children you bear and how far apart you want them, hell even to give you the right to say 'not tonight dear, I have a headache'" Tim explained.

"And to forsake all others and support you in sickness and in health like you vowed" Hadrian added."

Hermione smiled and looked thoughtful, mentally planning what she would ask Ron to vow."

"Why should I agree to this?" Ron asked.

"Why wouldn't you want to make things more even in your relationship if you love your wife?" Tim asked.

"Because the only other way I can think of to free Hermione of your abuse is to kill you" Hadrian said bluntly.

"I don't abuse my wife. I've never hit Hermione" Ron protested.

"I'm glad to hear it" Hadrian replied dryly. "But there are more forms of abuse than physical. You are deliberately making Hermione isolated and miserable by not letting her return to the job she loved, and because she can't tell anyone that she spends most of her day brewing potions for the twins because of your stupid misplaced pride, she's offending people who ask her to visit them and wearing herself out trying to cope with the potions, the housework and the baby without the help she needs."

"In the muggle world wives have a right to say no to their husband's amorous advances" Tim said.

"In our world, using her need to obey you to have sex when she doesn't want it, would be considered rape.

"And trying to get her pregnant when you knew she didn't want to have a baby yet is also a form of abuse and rape because Hermione wouldn't have consented to unprotected sex" Hadrian added.

"We don't live in the muggle world" Ron replied defensively.

"Hermione grew up in that world, with those beliefs. It doesn't matter what you think, if Hermione feels like she's being raped then it is rape" Tim stated firmly."

"Ron the way you force Hermione to do whatever you think she should is just as bad as holding her under the imperius curse. The only reason it's legal is that she made the vow herself and it's too late to check if she was under the influence of any spells or potions at the time. Abusing her wedding vows like this makes you a dark wizard" Hadrian added severely. "If anyone other than my best mate had done that to Hermione you or I would have killed them by now."

Ron looked shaken. "What would I have to vow?" he asked.

"That's up to Hermione" Hadrian replied. "You should think carefully about what you want and try to figure out what the side effects would be. We'll be back in a couple of weeks to help you set up the ritual. You do need to vow something yourself for it to work but they could just be the things you vowed last time and want to keep. You understand that this won't take the place of your original wedding vows but re-vowing the same thing might increase your need to follow it."

"Will you send me the details of the ceremony, what we need to say?" Hermione asked.

"That's the best part of this ceremony, there are no set words or vows. It's ritual sex magic so you can promise whatever you want and only what you want to" Hadrian replied.

"But it's illegal" Hermione protested.

"It's illegal in Britain. If that worries you then we can portkey you to one of my properties in another country where it is legal" Hadrian offered.

"And Ron, if you order Hermione not to go through with this or to tell me that she doesn't want to do it then I will find out. This is to be entirely Hermione's decision or you will regret it" Hadrian threatened his old school mate. "I'm going to get Hermione out of the mess she's in one way or another and from what I can see, this is the best way to do it from both of you."

"Can I see what vows you made?" Hermione asked.

"You can, but remember that we approached our marriage from a relationship of total equality and that was important to us, these are the only vows we have made to each other and we both made exactly the same ones, they reflect exactly how we feel about each other, they may not be right for you and Ron."

A/N: Thank you to Gottahavemyncis, Locket1, buterflypuss, julschristine975, Rori Potter, Raven4821, Kourtney Uzu Yato, dobbys-stinger, xDarklightx, BeepKeeper, lilly-flower15, Fallow53 (Guest), aknight86, Lientjuhh, MageVicky, charm13insomnia, Firehedgehog, DarkRavie, meiscof, Serpent91, acherongoddess, reckless13, Silvermane1, Reader Ethiriel, Village-Mystic, DS2010, serenityselena, Guest, Maben00, jgood27, kimbarn30, mother oracle, Saebelzahnkaninchen, Jedi Princess Lucky, Asfaala, TheNobodyWriter, james1823, Dark Kate, TigerStar1099, Redribin, lovehpfiction, Nicol, bianka17, ancalimesh, Hiro88, Articx-Frost, StarsInHerHair, Gigaeule88, Ashlin3, swapsu7, Claddagh, VictorianRosie, greenwings33, Redcats34, MayaHikari, wolf-shinigami, RyderrRalph, FirePheonixStar, Mucina, sujulove, Doc. K-9, KIMMIRII, Caithlinn13, sayomi-chan, malucobanana, Susan92, Animen'animallover183694, Quicksilver2011, DoctorLover88, , Lacus01, The Wandmaker, Chalithra, Hiro88, momoa1fla, madnessdownunder2, ladymozart1982, Sakura Lisel, marshmallowsgirl, mountredoubt and AvalonWay for your support.

A/N2: I have most of the vows I want them to make sorted but I welcome any ideas on vows Ron and Hermione could ask the other to make, particularly vows that are spiteful or ill thought out that Tim and Hadrian will veto.


	53. Chapter 53

Chapter 53

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or NCIS or any of their characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do NOT give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

"You vowed that!" Hermione exclaimed in shock after reading the copy of the vows Hadrian handed over.

"Yeah, my spouse and I made identical vows" Hadrian replied. "Tim used these vows for his wedding too." He said letting Ron assume they were talking about two separate weddings.

"That's so romantic! But what effect has it had on you?" Hermione asked guardedly.

"None that we've noticed" Tim replied. Hadrian smiled and nodded his agreement.

"So if they won't have any effect, why are you insisting in me making them?" Ron asked confused.

"These vows had no effect on the way Tim and I feel about our lovers or they feel about us or the way we treat each other because our relationships were already based on communication and respect for each other's needs, wants and opinions" Hadrian answered. "Your vows allow you to totally dominate Hermione and it's turned into a much bigger problem than Hermione and I expected because you're so happy to do it. You don't consider how your decisions affect her happiness or wellbeing. Therefore, if you won't treat her like she should be treated then Hermione needs marriage vows that protect her from your selfishness."

"I'm not selfish, to want my wife to behave like a traditional witch" Ron said belligerently.

"If you wanted a traditional pureblood wife, you should have married one! You knew before you got married that this wasn't what Hermione would ever want" Hadrian retorted.

"Now you two need to talk this over and come up with the vows you want to use so we'll call it an evening" Hadrian said waving his wand over the portkey they'd used to get here.

"I'll see you sometime next Saturday. And Ron, if your family is all there waiting to ambush me you will truly regret it so keep this to yourself" Hadrian said.

"Thank you, Harry," Hermione said tackle hugging him fiercely.

"Need to breathe, Hermione" Hadrian gasped.

Ron frowned as Hermione returned to his side and activated the portkey with only a curt 'see you'.

"You know Ron's never going to forgive you for forcing him to do this?" Tim said as the portkey took them out of hearing.

"Yeah but honestly he hasn't been much of a friend in recent years and I can't see the point of trying to fix our friendship if I have to lie to him about you and who I am to do it" Hadrian said wearily.

Tim hugged him tightly. "I'm sorry" he said.

"Don't be, it isn't your fault that the boy I befriended at eleven turned out to be a homophobic bigot" Hadrian said returning the hug. "even if I lost all my old friends I wouldn't regret being with you."

"Are you sure it will be safe to visit Ron on Saturday? You did just threaten to kill him" Tim asked.

"No, that's why I'll go Friday in full battle armour" Hadrian replied.

"You mean we will go" Tim said fiercely.

Hadrian smiled at his husband. "We will go" he agreed, planning to also take a house elf tasked with staying invisible if possible and protecting his husband against any attack.

-o0o-

After a busy week at work and with the children, Tim cringed at the thought of another international portkey ride but he wasn't going to let Hadrian face his former friends alone. They landed in the alley near Grimmauld place and used their time turner to go back twenty four hours before collapsing into bed to recover from the trip. It felt safe to stay there now that they knew the Weasleys thought the building had been sold to the developers.

They arrived at Ron and Hermione's flat under the invisibility cloak and watched Ron leave for work before knocking on the door.

"Harry" Hermione said hugging him on the doorstep. Harry lifted her up and stepped into the flat. Tim followed closing the door behind them.

"Hey Hermione" Hadrian said grinning.

"Hello Hermione" Tim added.

"Oh hi" Hermione said blushing a little at her poor manners in ignoring Harry's husband before turning back to Harry. "You said you'd come tomorrow" she accused.

"Will it be safe for me to come tomorrow or is Ron preparing an ambush?" Hadrian asked.

"I think it's safe, he hasn't mentioned anything to me" Hermione replied uncertainly. "Is that why you came today while he's at work?"

"Partly, we wanted a chance to talk to you alone" Hadrian admitted.

"Yet you're not alone" Hermione said glancing at Tim.

"No and he will not be alone with you until I'm absolutely sure you're not a threat to him" Tim replied bluntly. "He's the most important thing in my world you see and I won't let him put himself at risk if I can prevent it."

"You really love him" Hermione realised smiling. "And he's happier being with you than I've ever seen it. Even Ron noticed he's different, more calm and relaxed in spite of his threats and arguments the other night."

"I do love him" Tim agreed.

Rose Weasley woke up and started to grizzle, Hermione sighed. "I'll be back in a minute."

Hadrian looked over the potion ingredients and instructions Hermione had laid out on the table and started prepping ingredients.

"Can I help?" Tim asked hesitantly.

Hadrian nodded and carefully counted out 10 beetles into the mortar and pestle. "Grind these to a fine powder" he said handing it to his husband before going back to slicing whatever he had been doing.

Hermione soon came back with the baby in her arms. "Thanks Harry" she said surprised. She put Rose into the playpen, handed her some toys and joined them prepping ingredients.

"How many potions do you need to brew today Hermione?" Hadrian asked.

"Just these five. This first one has a one hour rest time between ingredients so when I get there I'll have time to talk. I was hoping Rose slept until then but Little Missy has a mind of her own" Hermione said fondly.

Hadrian helped Hermione brew while Tim kept the baby amused taking her out into the back garden for a while once the fumes started to bother him.

He called for Tollie to help set up a baby enclosure in the yard like they had for Rosie and the elf then popped Rosie into the enclosure with Rose. The two babies were too young to play together but Rose Weasley was at the stage she was fascinated by the younger baby. When she started to fuss Tim left Tollie in charge and went to ask Hermione for a bottle.

"I'm still feeding her myself" Hermione said tiredly, can you try to distract her for another five minutes.

"Sure I can try, perhaps she'd like some water or does she have a pacifier?" Tim asked. He checked in the playpen and collected it. "Got it."

He tried to settle the now crying baby, fortunately his own Rosie wasn't upset by the sound of crying or the sight of her father holding another child.

"She be's hungry Master Tims" Tollie said.

"I know Tollie but she's breast fed and her Mom can't come for another few minutes" Tim explained.

Hermione came out anxiously looking for her child about ten minutes later. "Why'd you bring her out here?" she asked scooping her out of Tim's arms.

"The fumes were bothering me, I know there are less fumes down at ground level where she is but are you sure it's safe to have a baby in the room while you're brewing?" Tim asked.

Hermione flushed guiltily, she wasn't sure, nowhere she'd read in potions books or child care books did it mention that it wasn't safe for a child to be in the room while brewing potions but none of her books said it was safe either. When she'd started brewing for the twins she'd been careful to cast air freshening charms in Rosie's direction every time the potion allowed her to stop for a moment to do so but lately she hadn't been as careful.

Tim turned away as Hermione unbuttoned her dress and prepared to feed the baby. Hadrian came out and joined them picking up his own daughter and sitting beside Tim bouncing her on his lap.

"Where's Teddy, Tollie?" he asked.

"He be's still sleeping peaceful, master Hadrians" Tollie replied.

"Thanks Tollie, let us know when he wakes up and we'll decide what to do then" Tim said.

"You'll let me see Teddy?" Hermione asked excitedly.

"Of course, so long as he isn't hurt by your actions" Hadrian said. "Be prepared though, I doubt he will remember you at all."

Hermione looked sad. "I wish I could blame you for that but you were right the other day. I barely have the time to look after Rose the way she deserves."

"Have you have time to think about doing the marriage ritual and what vows you and Ron want to make?" Hadrian said, unable to disagree with her.

"I don't know about Ron but I want to do the ritual" Hermione said impulsively.

"And have you thought about what vows you want?" Hadrian asked.

"Yes, they're written on a parchment in the front of the potions book on the table" Hermione said. Hadrian collected it, read it through, then handed it to Tim.

"I vow to obey Hermione Jane" Tim read out the first proposed vow, frowning.

Hadrian looked at his friend in horror. "Hermione this will destroy you both" he exclaimed crossing out the vow. "If he gives you orders you resent so you give him orders to punish him and he then tries to punish you, you'd be lucky not to end up hating each other."

"Or near killing each other" Tim added.

Hermione sighed but agreed, crossing it out on her copy of the list too.

"I vow to be faithful to my wife Hermione Jane in thought and in word and in deed" Hadrian read smirking. He let that one pass and moved on. "I vow never to order Hermione Jane to do anything ever again."

"That's dangerous, what if he need to tell you to do something quickly without arguing about it in an emergency" Tim said frowning.

"Even Tim and I would bark an order at each other if we noticed that Teddy was in trouble than the other person was in a better position to deal with it quickly" Hadrian agreed. "You should try to think of ways to limit what orders he can give you while still allowing for emergencies."

"Could the vow be reworded to only giving her orders in an emergency or dangerous situation?" Tim asked.

"Yes, though that would still leave it open to Ron's interpretation of an emergency" Hadrian replied rewriting the vow. "Still it's worth a try. It might help and it can't do any harm."

"Why do you even get a say? You're not going to be part of the ritual" Hermione snapped at Tim as Hadrian agreed and crossed out the vow.

"No but we are the ones that are going to force Ron to go through this ritual at all, and I want Tim here. He has a different way of seeing things and as a writer he has a better knowledge of the nuances of words than I do so he might see consequences that you and I miss. I don't want to risk making things worse for either of you. As angry as I am at Ron at the moment on your behalf, this ritual isn't about revenge. It's about evening the field between the two of you so you can have a successful marriage with the possibility of both being happy" Hadrian stated firmly.

"I think it might be too late for that" Hermione said sadly.

"Hey, Ron was our best friend for years and you loved him enough to marry him. I know you still love him because if your vows, isn't that worth giving it another try?" Hadrian asked. "If we do the ritual and you still find that you cannot live with him after a decent trial, then I can help you to disappear. But this is your only shot at a relationship, even if you never see him again you won't be able to fall out of love. Do you really think you'd be happier on you own in hiding for the rest of your life?" He chose not to mention the fact Rose would be better off if they managed to work things out. He didn't know whether that would help or not.

Hermione sighed. "Okay" she agreed. "Is there a way for him to make a vow that stops me from having to obey him?"

"No, Tim and I thought hard about this and I'm afraid that I couldn't find a way. We even asked the goblins and they couldn't help either."

Tim reached for the paper and read out the next item on the list. "I vow to let Hermione Jane think for herself and form her own opinions and never tell her what to think." Neither he nor Hadrian had any disagreement with that so he moved on pausing between each vow to consider it. "I vow to never lie to Hermione Jane. I vow to listen to Hermione Jane and respect her opinions. I vow to let Hermione Jane choose when and if she has more children without trying to influence her decision. I vow to never give Hermione Jane any order that she will find humiliating. I vow to never give Hermione Jane any order that will cause her serious misery."

Tim had nodded at each vow until this last one, he frowned.

"Um I think we better put a limit on that one" Hadrian suggested. "Sometimes things that make you miserable in the short term might be necessary in the long term."

"Like what?" Hermione demanded.

"Like breaking my engagement and leaving the country without telling my best friends where I was going" Hadrian replied.

"Yeah but none of us could have known it would work out the way it did" Hermione argued. "You were lucky to meet Tim."

"Hermione, even if I hadn't met Tim or anyone else, I love the freedom and sense of safety that living outside Britain gives me" Hadrian said gently. "If I hadn't had all that fuss from the Weasley's going on because I'd just broken my engagement, I would have fought this transfer with all I had and I would have won, Robbards would have sent someone else and I'd still be stuck here thinking twice about leaving the house every day because of the likes of Skeeter and how she might twist anything I said or did. I was feeling pressured and harassed by the public scrutiny but I had no idea how much stress it was causing me I walked around the magical area in my new home and nobody paid any attention. I don't get strangers coming up to me in the street to thank me for killing him, or to tell me what my parents would have thought about this or that or expected me to do."

Hermione huffed. "How do you want to put it then?"

"I'd suggest making him vow to never give you any order that he doesn't honestly believe is in the best interests of you and your children" Hadrian replied. "That will make him think twice about his orders."

"It could take the place of the one about orders that humiliate you too" Tim added. "The less vows Ron has to make the less he'll argue against them."

"Leave it on the list and when Ron objects to the vows we can agree to drop this one to make him think we're are accommodating his feelings and willing to negotiate if he has a reasonable argument" Hadrian replied.

"That's so Slytherin" Hermione protested.

"Just because at eleven I was stupidly brave and brash doesn't mean I wasn't loyal, cunning or intelligent Hermione" Hadrian said pointedly. "And I'm no longer ashamed of using all the gifts I have in my arsenal, I wouldn't have beaten Voldie without them."

Hermione blushed at the chastisement.

"I vow never to force or persuade Hermione Jane to have sexual intercourse when she doesn't feel like it" Tim read. "I think you might need to be prepared for some negotiation on that one too if you're going to make him vow to be faithful it isn't fair to cut him off completely."

Hadrian nodded.

"You talked him into this by telling him that ordering me to have sex was virtually rape, now you're okay with him raping me?" Hermione asked.

"I'm not okay with him using force ever but he has the right to try and persuade you" Hadrian argued. "How about we reword the vow to never force or order you to have sexual intercourse. That way he can try to persuade you and you can still say no. You never know you might enjoy his persuading." He winked lasciviously.

Hermione rolled her eyes but agreed rewriting the new vow.

"These were the other vows I thought of for the two of you" Hadrian said handing them over to Hermione. Tim had of course already discussed these vows and while it had never occurred to the two of them that they needed to make them themselves, both could see the advantage in forcing the other couple to put their daughter and any other children first while they tried to sort out the mess they'd made of their marriage.

'I vow not to let my pride be more important to me than you and our children.

I vow to always let my children know how much I love them.

I vow never to deliberately hurt my children through my actions or my words no matter how angry I am.

I vow to try to understand the effects my orders have on you and to feel the emotional pain they cause' Hermione read quickly.

"He loves Rosie, he would never hurt her. He's going to be really angry when he reads these" Hermione finally responded.

"If he truly loves her and wants what's best for her then he'd have no problem vowing to put her needs first" Tim offered.

Hermione just glared at him.

"Tim's right neither of you should have any trouble making this vow. I know Ron will object just because he's stubborn and doesn't think he needs to be told how to treat his children but there's nothing in this vow to object to and as much as you both love her your actions are harming her, Ron in refusing to let you work so she can be in proper day care and you brewing potions and not able to tell anyone you need help with her because of Ron's pride and orders" Hadrian said firmly, "If I am to force him to go through this ritual, these vows are not negotiable."

Hermione nodded dropping her face into her hands. "You think we're bad parents" she moaned.

"I think that Ron's orders have already caused you to neglect and virtually abandon your former godson I won't let him make you do that to another child who needs you" Hadrian said firmly.

"We will leave you to think and see you tomorrow but if there is an ambush then be prepared for us to go down fighting" Hadrian said taking his leave. "I am not above killing every Weasley on the planet if that's what it takes to keep Tim and my family safe."

-o0o-

Tim and Hadrian felt a little nervous approaching the Weasley's flat the next day but they had with them two bonded house elves ready to pop them to safety as soon as there was any trouble and a disillusioned Auror ready to back them up and call in reinforcements if Hadrian was attacked. Robbards had made it clear that though Hadrian had been on overseas assignment for years he was still considered a highly decorated British Auror and any attack on him would be met with all due force. Kingsley had been able to the fact that Harry had chosen to accept an overseas assignment and the record number of attacks on him to push legislation through the Wizengamot after Harry had left. Attacking an auror now had a ten-year minimum sentence in Azkaban. No exceptions unless the person could prove under veritaserum that they were being controlled by another, in which case the person ordering the attack would be jailed instead. The legislation had greatly cut down on attacks on Aurors both on and off duty and Hadrian didn't mind Kingsley using his fame to increase the safety of his former colleagues.

Wand and gun out, they approached the flat after casting a spell to determine the number of individuals inside, well aware that the three life signs they detected could be Molly and Ginny or Ron's brothers instead of Hermione and baby Rose.

They breathed an inward sigh of relief when Hermione opened the door looking tired and harassed but not worried to see them.

"Come on in" she said. "Tea? Do you even drink tea?" she asked Tim.

"I prefer coffee but I can ask one of the elves to bring me some if you don't have any" Tim replied as they entered the lounge room.

"How can you ask sentient creature like that to fetch and carry for you?" Hermione huffed.

"Hermione, we're not having this conversation" Hadrian said firmly. "We're here to help you."

"Interfering bugger" Ron mumbled.

"Hello Ron" Hadrian greeted him calmly.

"I see you brought your bodyguard with you again, it's bloody insulting that you don't trust me" Ron accused.

"I trusted you and I trusted your family. It hurt to learn they weren't trustworthy. I'd rather not put myself in that situation again" Hadrian replied wearily. "We are here to discuss the ritual."

"You mean you're here to tell me what vows I'm going to be forced to make" Ron said bitterly.

"We will discuss it, along with the logistics of where and when you will complete the ritual" Hadrian stated firmly. "Have you looked at the list of vows Hermione is suggesting?"

"What's the bloody point?" Ron ranted.

"The point is, if you calm down and read them and have a reasonable objection to a vow or a suggestion of a better way to achieve the outcome Hermione wants we will listen. You're the only one here who grew up in a magical home with parents who were magically bonded. You might know some of the pitfalls we've missed" Hadrian countered. "Are you willing to sulk instead of negotiating and risk that?"

Ron grunted and snatched the list of vows off the table.

"'I vow to be faithful to my wife Hermione Jane in thought and in word and in deed' What the bloody hell is this?"

"Are you cheating on you wife? Tim asked.

"No of course not" Ron exclaimed. "I have never cheated on her"

"Are you planning on cheating on her in the future?" Tim asked.

Ron looked at Tim murderously. "No" he growled.

"Then what's your problem with vowing not to?" Hadrian asked. "Hermione's already had to."

Ron couldn't think up an answer.

"The vow stays" Hadrian declared writing it down in his notebook.

"'I vow to only give Hermione orders in an emergency or situation where it would put Hermione and our children in imminent danger not to follow my orders'. Yeah okay can see why she wants that one" Ron agreed.

"'I vow to let Hermione Jane think for herself and form her own opinions and never tell her what to think' Ron read growling. "I vow to never lie to Hermione Jane." He threw the paper down on the table and clenched his fists menacingly.

"Again unless you make a habit of lying and manipulating her, you shouldn't have a problem with either of those vows" Hadrian pointed out.

"I vow to listen to Hermione Jane and respect her opinions."

"I vow to let Hermione Jane choose when and if she has more children without trying to influence her decision."

"I vow to never give Hermione Jane any order that she will find humiliating."

"I vow to never give you any order that he doesn't honestly believe is in the best interests of you and your children

I vow never to force or order you to have sexual intercourse' You want me to give up sex?" Ron demanded.

"Not at all, just to make the effort to make Hermione want it too" Hadrian said. "To ensure she's in the mood and enjoys the experience enough to want to repeat it."

"You never feel like it" Ron snorted to his wife.

"Maybe because you're so selfish about it" Hermione complained.

"Harry if you let her make me make a vow like that I'll never get any" Ron almost begged.

"What about if we compromise, Hermione and he'll make that vow while you vow to agree to sex at least every seven days" Hadrian suggested.

"At a mutually convenient time" Tim added seeing the loophole that Hadrian had missed. Hermione could declare herself willing at a time she knew Ron wouldn't be able to stay and take advantage of the offer.

"How is that not still rape if I'm forced to have sex with him whether I want to or not?" Hermione demanded .

"Hermione you don't have to choose that vow but if you're demanding that he vow that he be faithful you cant then deny his sex with you as well, it isn't fair" Hadrian pointed out.

"Besides you still get to choose when where how and whether you use contraceptives" Tim added.

"How would your wife like it if she had to vow to have sex every seven days?" Hermione asked.

Hadrian blushed slightly, I don't think we've ever gone seven days without… Oh yes we need to change that. She can't vow that, maybe just make it a verbal agreement."

"What?" Ron exclaimed, "all of a sudden you're on her side again?"

"What happens if you're away, or one of you is sick, or recovering from childbirth or an injury? If we state every seven days then you'd have to fuck even if one of you were in a coma" Hadrian stated bluntly.

Hermione smirked and grabbed the form and wrote another vow.

'I vow to make sure Hermione Jane orgasms before I do every time we have intercourse.'

"That's magically binding right, he'll have to learn to make me come before he can?" she asked Hadrian.

"I think so" Hadrian said doubtfully.

"How the hell am I supposed to do that?" Ron asked incredulously.

"I'm sure Hermione would be happy to teach you what arouses her" Hadrian replied.

"Or there's some pretty good books and self help DVD's out there" Tim added.

"I'm not making such a ridiculous vow" Ron declared.

"I'm beginning to see why your wife doesn't like sex" Tim commented.

Ron leapt to his feet prepared to punch Tim when Hadrian petrified him and levitated him back to his seat casting strong sticking charms to keep him in it and it in place on the floor. He released the petrification and when Ron began yelling obscenities, Hadrian silenced him. "Tim's right, how can you expect Hermione or anyone else to want to have sex with you if your too selfish to care about their pleasure as well as your own?"

"I was a virgin when we met but I have to admit that most of my friends describe sex as more pleasurable and exciting than I've experienced" Hermione said.

"What slags have you been talking with? I forbid…" Ron began before Hadrian hurriedly silenced him again.

"We're here to even up the power in your marriage because it isn't right that you can even think that you have the right to decide who Hermione chooses to talk to and spend time with" he said furiously to his former friend. "Tap the table when you've calmed down and are prepared to have a reasonable discussion about the rest of the vows."

"You should have let him forbid me to talk to them. It would have been funny when he realised he'd forbidden me from talking to his sister and sisters-in-laws" Hermione said.

Hadrian chuckled and Ron turned purple trying to yell loudly enough to break the silencing charm.

Hermione turned her back on him offering everyone another cup of tea.

A/N: Thank you to Reader Ethiriel, Locket1, Fallow53 (Guest), Kourtney Uzu Yato, charm13insomnia, kimbarn30, serenityselena, Catus, xDarklightx, dobbys-stinger, DarkRavie, lilly-flower15, Lientjuhh, Selenity84, BeepKeeper, lgbtlovechick, Kaorilamb, veyronking995, , Rori Potter, Gottahavemyncis, acherongoddess, lia (Guest), Merlenyn, buterflypuss, Maben00, Firehedgehog, Vladimir Mithrander, Silvermane1, DS2010, BlazeVein, Serpent91, madnessdownunder2, Guest, Guest, MargaritaS, oro03910, .9, gabrieljuarezl, krr84, Hope (Guest), , Jewlz98, epoxiette, juliasejanus, ebonylakia, Creatively Inept, itanaru8, Christopher-Anastasia St. John, ajvb, archangelmika, Pushi19, Selene Aurelius, Mikado8219, 4680, dawnhallj, Sakura HanaYuki, Chocozoe, matsurisabaku9, miriel29, ahpotterlvr, Make war not love. war is fun, Darquise, debzerechillin, tattereddove, Heretogetthestory, WandCrossGryffindors, TillHate, Gemini no Vanou, ShatteredDragon, Apita4, moonchain12, chmaka456, harrypotterfan1977, TsunakoVongola, KasumiKeiko, azamariasp, ashlyn83, chi4ngo, TenTenDestiny101, daumae, Helensdragon **,** xoshortnsassy09, starkresurection, Riesenkrake, Sukura, jfss93, mysticalwarrior, sarcastic-pies, casszim, Unspeakable Jack, ren11sen, Emmikus, BloodyLonesome89, PotterB2utyElf and yumi2482 for your support.


	54. Chapter 54

Chapter 54

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or NCIS or any of their characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do NOT give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

Hadrian, Tim and Hermione chatted about books and new spells they'd come across in the last few years. Of course, Hadrian had a lot more spells to talk about, the spells that weren't exactly new but also those that had been banned in Britain for rear of abuse and those invented and included in new books by witches or wizards widely known muggleborn or espousing radical ideas of equality that the British wizarding world had dismissed. Britain actually imported very few books from anywhere but Europe so Hadrian had several to loan to Hermione that she'd never even heard of or seen referenced. Ron was starting to calm down though he was also angry about being ignored for so long now too, when Rose woke form her morning nap.

With his daughter in the room Ron made more of an effort to calm himself and tapped the table. Hadrian lifted the silencing charm but left the other spells in place.

Tim picked up the paper and decided this was a fine time to skip down a couple of vows and read out the one about his temper. "I vow never to deliberately hurt my children through my actions or my words no matter how angry I am."

Ron's face turned red but none of them were sure if it was in shame or anger that Hermione thought she needed a vow like that. He didn't say anything and after a moment Tim went on. "I vow not to let my pride be more important to me than you and our children."

Again, Ron didn't reply.

"I'm taking your silence as an agreement to these vows being included" Hadrian stated.

"I vow to always let my children know how much I love them" Tim read.

"I don't need a vow to do that" Ron protested.

"Maybe not, but in that case it won't matter if you make it" Hadrian said writing the vow on the agreed on list, rewording it into the first person format required for the ritual.

"I vow to try to understand the effects my orders have on you and to feel the emotional pain they cause" Tim read.

"That one is not negotiable" Hadrian said before Ron could reply. "You never could have used Hermione's vow to obey you to abuse her like you have if you tried to understand what you were doing."

"I never abused my wife" Ron argued.

"You forced Hermione to give up a job she loved and stay home alone, she has a child she didn't feel ready to have and you live in relative poverty because you refused to allow her to return to work outside the home. You tell her who she can talk to, how she's allowed to spend her time and even sometimes what she's allowed to think. Hermione spends all day brewing potions for the twins to afford to put food on the table and you come home and expect her to do all the cooking and cleaning. Have you ever changed even one nappy, or given Rose a bath or put her to bed or cleaned the kitchen so she could put her feet up and have a rest when she's clearly exhausted? Then at the end of the day when she's too tired after looking after you and your pride all day to want to do anything but fall asleep you demand sex and get upset with her for not being as into it as you are" Hadrian listed all the ways he felt Hermione was being abused in her marriage. "Hermione is far more a slave to you than any of my house elves are to me. I honestly wouldn't have a problem making any of those vows, but then none of them would change my life or the way I treat my family."

He was lying a little, he would demand the vow about fidelity be reworded to eliminate consequences he didn't think either of them had considered but he wouldn't have trouble making a vow that fulfilled Hermione's intention.

"Okay I'll do it but I want Hermione to make some more vows too" Ron said furiously.

"I will not!" Hermione yelled furiously. "The vows I already made trap me more than enough Ronald Weasley!"

"You'll have to for the ritual to work" Hadrian said. "But the four of us will discuss what you and Ron want and try to foresee all the possible consequences just as we're doing for Ron's new vows."

Hermione glared at him. "You didn't tell me that!" She exclaimed.

"I thought you'd read through the ritual. For it to work you both have to make promises to each other. I think it is more powerful if both people make the same vows to each other like I did with my marriage but it should still work. I'm not going to force you to go through the ritual if you change your mind. I'm just trying to help you" Hadrian said slowly.

"We can come back tomorrow if you want time to think it over" Tim offered.

"That's a good idea. We'll see you at ten o'clock. And Ron, remember that Hermione as well as the two of us will have final approval on the vows she has to make, so try to be reasonable. You've already put her in a terrible situation and I'm not going to risk making it worse" Hadrian said getting up. "Hermione, you might want to come up with some suggestions for vows for yourself and Tim and I will think about some suggestions as well."

"Do we need to make the same number of vows?" Hermione asked.

"The ritual doesn't say but I think it will be best, unless you can find more information about it" Hadrian replied. "I can't believe you didn't even read the ritual and look at all the possible consequences! That's what got you into this mess in the first place."

"I still have access to the ministry library and I could ask Professor McGonagall if I can search the Hogwarts library. I've never seem this ritual before but I never really researched bonding rituals" Hermione started to plan.

"I doubt you'd find any mention of it in the Hogwarts library" Hadrian said. "Not even in the restricted section."

"It's that dark?" Ron asked furiously.

"It's not dark at all" Hadrian replied. "But can you imagine what a mess it could make if students were aware of the ritual. Especially among the purebloods who fall in love with someone other than their betrothed."

"Giggly silly girls like Romilda Vane would think it incredibly romantic to marry their boyfriend" Hermione realised.

"Or Fred and George could have used it as a prank" Ron suggested.

"I think your brothers would have had more sense" Hermione argued.

"They may have experimented to try and alter the ritual though" Hadrian replied.

Hermione shuddered. "There might be something in the headmaster's private library" she suggested. "And Professor McGonagall should be made aware of the ritual so she can ward against it somehow or know to look for those particular rune circles."

Tim laughed. "How are you and Hadrian such good friends? When he found this ritual one of his first thoughts was to send it to the students to cause chaos with and your first thought about that was to prevent it."

Ron laughed too.

"You didn't!" Hermione exclaimed in horror.

"I didn't actually send it. I'm not that irresponsible, not to mention I couldn't work out who to send it too. Though Colin and Dennis Creevey's little brother is a seventh year isn't he?" Hadrian asked laughing.

"I hardly think he'd trust anything you sent him" Hermione replied sternly.

Hadrian sobered immediately. "They blame me for their older brother's death" He explained quietly to Tim. "He was too young to be in the battle but when we evacuated the students he somehow stayed behind to fight. He had this huge fan crush on me. That's why he stayed."

"That's not the only reason Harry. When all was said and done, he was a muggleborn. If you hadn't won he'd be dead anyway, if it were me I'd have preferred to die fighting for freedom than to spend months running and hiding and probably being hunted down and executed" Hermione said gently.

-o0o-

"I still think that Ron is getting off easily" Tim commented when he and Hadrian were alone. He hadn't said much when Ron and Hermione were present as Ron automatically argued with every suggestion he made.

"No Hermione managed to hide quite a sting in those vows, it will definitely come back to bite him" Hadrian said smirking.

"Oh?" Tim asked.

"I vow to be faithful to my wife Hermione Jane in thought and in word and in deed" Hadrian recited, chuckling.

"Yeah so he won't be able to cheat on her, that just evens things up, Hermione vowed to love him forsaking all others" Tim said missing the point.

"Yeah and we could have had Ron vow to forsake all others too, but instead Hermione wants him to vow to be faithful in thoughts and words as well as deeds. He not only won't be able to cheat, he won't be able to even think or fantasise about anyone but Hermione, he won't be able to flirt or idly chat up a girl or talk about other women with his mates, hell he won't even be able to masturbate without picturing Hermione in his mind, it's even possible magic will decide that he won't be able to get an erection unless Hermione is with him and he's concentrating on her."

Tim laughed. "Add that to the vow to learn how to give her an orgasm every time his sexual habits are going to be completely altered."

"He deserves it. I doubt he makes the effort to make sure she orgasms after him if he doesn't try to get her off first. No wonder he's having to order her to have sex with him" Hadrian said disgustedly.

"So, what you're saying is that he won't be able to get it up without her and then when he's with her he won't be able to finish unless she does and he has no idea how to get her off. He's going to be homicidal after a week of that" Tim said giggling.

"Hopefully he'll remember to ask Hermione for help" Hadrian replied chuckling.

"We could send him some literature to help" Tim suggested snidely.

"Yeah, I certainly never saw anything like that in the wizarding world. Even 'play wizard' is pretty ordinary" Hadrian agreed.

"I'm surprised they have a magazine like that at all from some of the things you've said" Tim replied.

"Yeah well I guarantee 90% of the witches in it are muggleborns who are struggling to earn a living because of the prejudice against them and/or trying to earn enough money to go back to school and get their GED so they can get a decent job in the nonmagical world" Hadrian said. "Problem is they're just proving the blood purists right, that they are less respectable than other witches."

"Can you do anything about it?" Tim asked.

Hadrian shrugged, "I offered to pay for Hermione and another muggleborn friend to go to university but they both turned me down. I couldn't really help too many witches when I lived here because most of them were too suspicious of what benefits I might ask in return. 'The Daily Prophet' didn't help by insinuating I was trying to start my own harem. I'd happily try to do something anonymously; the problem is contacting them without insulting them or making them feel I'm supporting the pureblood agenda by paying them to leave the British Wizarding World."

"You could ask Hermione to help if she proves trustworthy after the ritual stops her from having to do and think whatever Ron says" Tim suggested, also subtly reminding Hadrian not to get his hopes of getting his friend back up too high. They might simply not get along even without Ron magically influencing her.

"Yeah but though the Weasleys are pretty much broke, they're still a prominent pureblood family. She might have trouble being taken seriously. I'd ask Dean except for the fact he was under Ginny's thrall last time I saw him and he wouldn't trust me."

"You nearly need one of the teachers at the school to pass on information about it" Tim suggested.

"I'll approach a couple of them but I doubt they will. In fact, it would be better if they have the information about the discrimination they'll face as adults to the fifth years once you've passed your OWLS in fifth year you're allowed to keep your wand if you leave but the school needs the tuition money the muggleborns bring in" Hadrian said.

"They should tell the parents before they even make the decision to send them to magical school" Tim replied. "I don't approve of the choice Mom and Dad made for me but at eleven the kids would be old enough to get a say in it."

"Unfortunately, it doesn't work that way. In Britain, parents who refuse to send their muggleborn children to Hogwarts are spelled to change their minds" Hadrian said. "They don't have a choice."

"The parents would resent that. Does anyone check that they're not taking it out on the children?" Tim asked.

"It was one of the things I've asked Kingsley to organise to start doing as standard practice as soon as children show signs of accidental magic" Hadrian replied.

"Is that what happens in America? I remember meeting a wizard FBI agent on that missing child case just after Rosie was born" Tim said.

"Yeah especially in areas where there's a lot of strict religious followers who might think magic is a sigh of possession by the devil. You wouldn't believe some of the stories coming out of those communities. Of course, the way some of them bring up children almost qualifies as abuse too."

"What happens then?" Tim asked.

"The family are encouraged to send their child away for a cure, in actual fact they're taken and adopted into a magical family. If they can prove all the children are being abused they might stage a disaster like a house fire and tell the parents the children were killed and the children that the parents were killed. A little magical mind healing and the children can be relocated and adopted" Hadrian said.

"You mean put into the foster system?" Tim said concerned.

"No, the wizarding world values children more than that. Most of them are adopted outright immediately. Blood adopted even if they want" Hadrian replied.

"Kingsley's trying to set up a similar program here but it looks like he might have to have the kids sent to Australia or America because the only witches and wizards who want to adopt a muggleborn are muggleborn themselves and the wizard adoption agency is being obstructive to muggleborns."

"Could Kingsley or Neville find someone to help find the muggleborns that need help to leave?" Tim suggested. "Or could we just ask Hannah to gossip about it and spread the word that way?"

Hadrian laughed, "That would work and the goblins might be willing to run the financial end. I'll make plans in the morning."

"Why are you doing all this for Hermione?" Tim asked curiously. "I know she'd your friend but she hasn't exactly been a very good friend for years now."

"Yeah I know she hasn't, but I don't know how much of that was her marriage vows" Hadrian said thoughtfully. "And I feel guilty for abandoning her to the Weasley family."

"Would she have come with you when you left if you'd asked her to?" Tim asked.

"No and she wouldn't have kept it a secret from Ron if she did. She loved her job too much and she loved Ron. Even after we found the potion in the cupboard keyed to make her like him as a teenager she thought she was safe with him. She did agree to have herself tested and the healers told her she hadn't been potioned since the end of the war and even before that it was an attraction potion, 'it would only give her a bit of a crush'" Hadrian finished pulling a face of disgust at the healer's acceptance of his friend being given even an attraction draught.

"Was she a good friend right up until her marriage?" Tim asked.

Hadrian thought for a minute. "She was a great friend right up until I left England and I was encouraged not to come back until things settled down with the Weasleys so I only went to visit Teddy and didn't see her again until the wedding."

Tim nodded, "do you want to take Teddy out sightseeing?" he asked drawing Tim in to kiss him passionately.

"Maybe to the zoo. He's a bit young to appreciate the castle or changing of the guard, the kind of sightseeing you'd like to do" Hadrian replied.

"The zoo is fine" Tim laughed. They packed up a bag of snacks and the shrunken stroller and headed for the London Zoo for an afternoon. Teddy loved it and his wholesome delight was exactly what Hadrian and Tim needed after a morning negotiating with his former best friends. As the sun set they carried an exhausted little boy and his sleeping baby sister back to the hotel and handed them over to Tollie, ordering room service and enjoying some adult time alone.

-o0o-

Tim and Hadrian could hear arguing from Ron and Hermione's flat as they approached the next morning. Tim grimaced at the idea of walking in on that but Hadrian cast an eavesdropping charm and was relieved to hear them arguing about the vows Hermione wanted to add to the ones Ron had agreed to the day before. He banged on the door and Hermione opened it looking weary.

"Would you like us to come back after lunch?" Tim asked politely.

"No come in and let's get this over with. If you give him more time, then Ron is just going to continue to yell the same arguments over and over as if repetition and volume will make him right. Tea?"

"No thanks Hermione" Hadrian declined.

"No thank you" Tim declined as well. They came in and sat at the kitchen table.

"Before we start Ron, I want you to order Hermione to tell us honestly what she is thinking and feeling about these vows no matter what you've told her in the past" Hadrian ordered.

"I thought you didn't like me ordering her to do stuff? Isn't that what this is all about?" Ron asked confused. "Unless you're just jealous because she's my wife" he accused.

"Ron, I love Hermione like a sister, there's never been anything between us" Hadrian replied.

"What are you doing making him give me orders!" Hermione demanded.

"I just need him to do this so I know you can actually speak freely because this order will counteract any orders he may have given you before we arrived" Hadrian explained. "Think about it Hermione, you want to be able to make clearheaded decisions and there is nothing in this order that you don't want to do."

"He didn't" Hermione protested.

"And you'd have to say that if he told you to" Tim said gently. "Hades and I have no way to know that truth other than Ron making this order, unless you'd both like to take a truth serum."

Ron scowled but gave the order and the other two could see Hermione relax.

"So what vows did you come up with?" Hadrian asked.

"Well you said it would be best to make some of the same vows so these are the one's Ron agreed to yesterday that I would be happy to make" Hermione said reading them out. "I vow to listen to Ronald Bilius and respect his opinions. I vow to always let my children know how much I love them. I vow not to let my pride be more important to me than you and our children. I vow never to deliberately hurt my children through my actions or my words no matter how angry I am."

"That's a good start. Did you think of anything you want Hermione to vow Ron?" Hadrian asked his former best mate.

"I vow to act in the best interests of our family, particularly Rose Hermione and any other children we may have in the future" Ron read out.

"Yes that would also be a good vow for both of you" Hadrian said writing it down. Ron frowned but couldn't protest since the vow was his idea.

"I vow to cook better meals" Ron read.

Tim laughed, "That's not necessarily possible, maybe Hermione could vow to try to learn to cook better, but at the moment she really doesn't have the time to take a class or plan and cook elaborate meals."

"She doesn't even try" Ron said.

"I vow not to deliberately cook badly or destroy the food" Hermione recited as she wrote, does that make you happy.

Harry laughed. "Have you been?" he asked.

"Sometimes when I'm really furious with him, but most of the time I'm just too busy trying to cook dinner, look after Rose and hurrying to finish off the last of that day's potions before Fred or George come to collect them. Dinner gets overcooked while I'm distracted."

"I vow to take the best care that I possibly can of my children" Ron read.

"I have no trouble with vowing that, but I do take the best care I can with the time I have. Brewing potions puts food on the table for all of us" Hermione said seriously.

"I vow to stop calling Ronald Billius, Ronald and to call him by the name he prefers" Ron read.

Hadrian grinned, "Petty but functional" he said writing it down. "That would be an easy vow to have you mirror Hermione, what do you say do you want to force him to atop calling you 'Mione and Herms?"

"Yes please" Hermione replied quickly and Hadrian wrote that down. "I vow to stop calling Hermione Jane, Mione or Herms or any other ridiculous shortening of her name, and to call her by the name she prefers."

"Is that all?" Hadrian asked.

"Isn't it enough?" Hermione asked affronted.

"That's all the ones she didn't refuse to vow" Ron said sulkily.

"No Hermione the ritual would work better with an even number of vows and Ron currently has fifteen and you only have nine" Tim replied. "So we need another six, you could repeat the vows you've already made vowing to love honour and obey and to forsake all others. That could be reworded to four vows but we still need two more or you could remove two vows from Ron's list."

"You could remove the vow not to give any orders you find humiliating since it's pretty much covered in the vow only to give you orders that are in your best interests" Hadrian suggested.

"If she vowed to find Ron sexually attractive, would that increase her sex drive?" Tim asked.

"I don't know, but it might help" Hadrian said.

"Or strain my magic if I couldn't do it" Hermione snapped.

"You could vow to try harder to find him sexually attractive" Tim suggested. "It would help your marriage if you did."

"Or you could use one of the vows you crossed out" Ron said shoving the list at Hadrian. He read through it quickly wincing at some of the suggestions.

"Ron I'm trying to Get Hermione out of the prison she's trapped in and make things better between you so you can have a happy marriage, not give you weapons to use against Hermione" Harry said frustrated. "I can't ask her to make any of these vows."

"We'll think of another vow Harry, don't worry about it" Hermione said. "Hopefully two because I really want to keep the vow stopping him from humiliating me. We don't need your help."

"Are you sure, because that didn't sound like friendly conversation when we arrived" Hadrian replied.

Hermione glared at him. "Set up the ritual space and let us worry about finalising the vows."

"Okay but I am going to check that you're acting on your own free will before the ritual" Hadrian replied already planning how to do that. Making Ron order her to think and act for herself wouldn't work again because Ron could order her to ignore all orders given in Hadrian's presence. Though he wasn't entirely sure Ron would think of that, he didn't want to take the risk.

"The vows need to be worded into the first person, you and Ron and making these vows directly to each other not to me or anyone else" Hadrian said, more than a little concerned that Hermione didn't already know that. She obviously still hadn't read through the information he'd given her on the ritual properly which was most unlike the Hermione he knew. Especially since she'd got into this mess by not researching magical weddings in the first place. He began to wonder if there was something stopping her from researching it.

-o0o-

They could hear the argument start up again as they walked away from the flat.

"I'm glad to be away from that" Tim said.

"They argued like that all the time in school too. It got better for a while after they got together. Everyone thought it was their way of flirting but it's bloody annoying to be in the middle of their fights all the time" Hadrian said.

"It sounds like they are just incompatible" Tim commented.

"Yeah but with the vows the only way Hermione can leave him is to disappear well enough that he can't find her, even with owl post so he can't order her back to him. She'd also have to leave her Rose behind because there're ways to track blood family. Even then she can't be with anyone else while he's alive and she can't kill him or arrange someone else to do it."

"So these new vows really are her only hope of a successful relationship" Tim said resignedly. "I hope she's grateful."

"I doubt she is at the moment but hopefully she will be if it works" Hadrian replied.

"You think it might not?" Tim asked.

"The vows will put limits on what orders Ron can give her but she'll still resent him being able to give her any orders and things like in her best interest are open to Ron's interpretation. If he's smart enough to realise that and cunning enough to convince himself that doing what Ron wants is in Hermione's and/or Rose's best interests, then that vow wont limit him anywhere near as much as Hermione hopes it will" Hadrian replied. Hermione is right to want to leave in the vow stopping him from ordering her to humiliate herself."

A/N: Thank you to Kourtney Uzu Yato, Locket1, DS2010, Rori Potter, xDarklightx, Fandommember, madnessdownunder2, lilly-flower15, acherongoddess, Kaorilamb, charm13insomnia, julschristine975, jayswing96, buterflypuss, ElysiumPhoenix, serenityselena, Firehedgehog, dobbys-stinger, .9, lia (Guest), Reader Ethiriel, gabrieljuarezl, , , DarkRavie, FirePheonixStar, Village-Mystic, Aaaa (Guest), Silvermane1, Maben00, Fallow53 (Guest), Serpent91, Lientjuhh, TheBloodWolfe, SpiritBlackPaw, hellkiss, staar (Guest), Shiovaun, darkpercy5, VierasXx, Muraenidae, Kaddy 16, Sogra, MeowChan88, winfield56, Stardancer0829, BelleSalvatoreWhitlock, Wind Wolf 1701, Dehaanii, Lexie-chan94, Freya le Noir, The-Black-and-White-Cat11, , kathdo, Death's Silent Approach, Ophelia-CoffeeLover, NyxDragonBorne, DragonRoseWendy, LovelyPrincess22, , Mssr Shadow, ChelseaLynn1990, Shelleykids, Diabloca76, hellkiss, Ters, Korhedron, reamane21, Lovekitty3, mishap, hlewin, yami4yugi and blazesoccergirl713 for your support.


	55. Chapter 55

Chapter 55

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or NCIS or any of their characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do NOT give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

"We should get Hermione to think of an extra vow and get him to vow never to order her to tell a lie," Tim said.

"I thought of that, but it would be more to protect us than Hermione," Hadrian replied. "I'll send her an owl and suggest it though. I don't know if she's okay having to lie for him. She used to hate telling lies even though she was pretty good at lying to people to keep Ron and I out of trouble."

"You didn't offer Hermione many suggestions for her vows except the ones to look after their baby better and consider her welfare," Tim offered wondering if Hadrian wanted to talk about it.

"When they start arguing it's as if the rest of the world doesn't exist," Hadrian said. "I wanted a way to ensure their children wouldn't be harmed by it."

"So, you think she will have another child then?" Tim asked surprised. "Ron doesn't have multiple family names to inherit like you and Neville does he?"

Hadrian laughed. "Ron's a sixth son of the third son of the current head of the Weasley family, most of his cousins have bred like rabbits. He doesn't need to provide an heir for his own name and the only thing they have worth inheriting at the moment is the flat. He believes in big families though and Hermione was pretty lonely as a kid. I wouldn't have thought she'd want to have an only child."

"She doesn't seem to enjoy being a mother though. I know we have it a lot easier with Barbara and the elves but every time I see her with the baby it seems like looking after Rose is work for her not a pleasure. I'm glad she's not Teddy's godmother anymore."

"Me too" Hadrian said softly. "At the time, I honestly thought she'd be great at it and I was glad that Remus and Tonks chose her instead of Ginny. I'm still glad they didn't choose Ginny but I wish they hadn't chosen Hermione. I feel guilty ignoring their wishes and cutting her out of the position."

"They would've wanted you to what's best for Teddy," Tim reassured his husband. "They wouldn't have been happy with the way she ignored him either even if they didn't have the opportunity to assign new godparents, they would be glad you did."

"I hope they can see what a wonderful happy little boy he is" Hadrian said.

-o0o-

They'd planned to arrive home late Sunday night, then use the time turner as soon as they arrived home which would give them time to recover from the international portkey and time differences, catch up on some much needed sleep after a stressful weekend with Ron and Hermione's issues and spend some time with Teddy and Rosie before returning to work on the Monday. Instead as soon as they arrived home Barbara greeted them with the news that Auror Clancy had called the night before wanting to see Hadrian in his office as soon as possible.

Turning back time took them to within half an hour of the Auror's call and Hadrian hurried to apparate to work knowing that nothing good could have the boss in the office on a Saturday night.

"The BAU a team is on a case that flagged some of the search parameters you set," Clancy told him handing him a file as soon as he walked into the office. "We didn't get assigned it initially because there's no proof of magic being used but the pattern of torture is a bit too close to a couple of incidents that occurred in Britain just before and during the war.

"Please tell me I don't have to go to Britain to get the original case files, I was there today," Hadrian groaned.

"No Kingsley's having them sent over to me. They should be here any minute," Clancy replied. The computer dinged and Clancy pressed a couple of buttons setting the printer beside him going. "That's them."

"He's finally worked out how to use a computer?" Hadrian asked grinning.

"No, they're still claiming that the amount of magic in the ministry would make any electronics inoperable, he planned to have them couriered over to Sir Geoffrey's office and one of his staff was going to scan them in to send," Clancy replied chuckling.

"My phone works fine there, as does his. But perhaps he's right, the Wizengamot would have him declared insane if he started bringing in electronics. His phone is mostly hidden from those who don't know he has one," Hadrian replied.

Comparing the three files, Hadrian had to admit they were eerily similar in spite of the fact that the torture in the first two cases was obviously magically inflicted and there was no evidence of magic used on the most recent case.

"It would be hard to copy this level of torture so exactly without using magic," he commented.

"It would and they're too similar for it to be a co-incidence so it's almost definitely one of yours. I've booked you on the next flight to LAX. If you're working with the BAU there needs to be a paper trail proving you were sent from here."

Hadrian groaned internally but didn't disagree.

"Can you get me the schematics for the police office they're using and whether it's already been warded against magical escape?" Hadrian asked.

Clancy frowned, "It hasn't to my knowledge. I'll also try to get you the schematics of the prison they're likely to send the perp to before the trial. You'll need to install your own wards. Do you need a warder sent with you?"

"No thanks, I'll call if I need one but I should be able to do it myself. Does anyone on the BAU team know about magic?" Hadrian asked next.

"I couldn't say for sure, they're too observant to guarantee what they have or haven't noticed, but none of them officially know and I'd like you to try to keep it that way," Clancy replied.

"Will do if I can Boss," Hadrian agreed.

-o0o-

Hadrian arrived off the plane and was collected by one of the local FBI who issued him a car for his use while in California. "How come you didn't arrive with the rest of the team?" he asked.

"I'm not part of the BAU. Something they discovered crossed over into an investigation of mine and we're hopefully going to be able to join forces," Hadrian explained.

"Good luck with that," the officer said having had more than enough experience in joint operations to know it rarely went well.

Two hours later Hadrian arrived at the local police station the BAU were currently working out of and went in to introduce himself to the chief of police and whichever BAU members that were present.

"Hello I'm SSA Hadrian Black seconded from Britain, I was sent here to provide an alternate point of view and help out," he introduced.

"Why were you sent to us?" Morgan asked suspiciously.

"This case had similarities with a case my department in London worked several years ago," Hadrian said calmly. "The details of the torture look to similar for it to be a coincidence."

"You weren't old enough to be investigating cases several years ago," Morgan accused.

"No but I do know quite a lot about the unsubs involved and I believe that the cases are related, which means that at least one of your unsubs was in Britain during our case," Hadrian replied calmly.

"Did they come up with the details on what implements could have been used to cause this level of damage to the bodies?" Reid asked, he'd been liaising with the medical examiner who hadn't been able to give them a clear picture of the weapon or weapons used.

"Yes, it's nothing you're likely to have seen before," Hadrian replied. "I'll need to see the body to confirm of course."

"Reid take him to see the latest victim."

"This way?" Spencer said stiffly.

The sight of the body confirmed that the torture was the same and Hadrian managed to distract Reid and the M.E. long enough to scan for residual magic. The victims were muggles but some of the wounds on the most recent body did still have traces of residual magic though unfortunately it was too degraded to get a signature. He returned to the office to see if he could make some discrete suggestions to add to the profile the team was working up.

"How come you got called in, the BAU are the best of the best aren't they?" the local sheriff asked, he'd worked with the BAU in the past before he'd moved out from the LAPD.

"Yes they are," Hadrian agreed not wanting the locals to lose confidence in the team. "But I specialise in the unexplainable, and some of these wounds meet that criteria. It also has links to a case in England several years ago, so having a British liaison might help things along on that end."

Sooo, you're like the real-life Fox Mulder?" the local sheriff asked disbelievingly.

"Who?" Hadrian asked confused.

"Fox Mulder was a fictional agent on a television show called the X-files," JJ replied. Seeing Hadrian still looked blank and being used to their own Dr Reid missing most popular culture references she explained further. "The X-files agents investigated fictional cases that seemed to involve the impossible paranormal and/or extra-terrestrial."

"Did you grow up under a rock?" the local asked.

"No, just without a television or nearby movie theatre," Hadrian explained having got used to having to explain his lack of knowledge of popular television.

-o0o-

As soon as the team retired for the night Hadrian donned his invisibility cloak and snuck back across the road to the police station and started laying anti-apparition, anti-portkey and anti-offensive magic wards around the entire building. It took him several hours to etch the runes into the foundations for permanent wards but if they were to arrest a wizard it would be time well spent. He then went to the local prisons that were likely to take custody of a prisoner from this station and was relieved to find they'd already been warded. Quickly strengthening the wards back up to functionality only took him a couple of minutes each and he apparated back to his hotel room and fell into an exhausted sleep.

-o0o-

He arrived next morning to find that the rest of the team had been called out to a new body several hours earlier and had managed to identify and arrest the person who dumped the body. He backed out quietly and visited the morgue where he was able to identify and record the weak residual magical signature on the new body.

"We have a suspect in custody but we suspect she was the nondominant partner. She won't even give us her own name let alone any information on who her partner is or where to find him or the missing potential victims," Emily informed him.

"Pansy Parkinson," Hadrian said surprised, recognising their suspect.

"What?" Morgan barked.

"Her name is Pansy Parkinson. We attended school together. She was a first-class bitch but I'm surprised she'd be involved in something like this. For one thing, she can't stand getting her hands dirty, literally" Hadrian explained.

"She looks ten years older than you. Did you graduate early like Reid?"

"No. She's twenty-eight. I'm twenty-seven," Hadrian replied.

She looks closer to thirty-eight, are you sure it's her?" Morgan asked.

"One way to find out, Hotch isn't going to get anything out of her if it is," Hadrian said preparing to enter the interrogation room.

"Wait, let me warn Hotch first and get his permission," Morgan quickly dialled Hotch.

Hadrian sat back down.

"Hotchner," Hotch said answering the phone.

"Black knows the woman. He wants in on the interrogation," Morgan said quietly. "you think he could be in on it?"

"Get Garcia to run his background," Hotch said decisively.

"On it. He's on his way in," Morgan replied.

"Stall him." Hotch ordered.

"Office of the all-knowing, what information can I provide you with this morning my chocolate thunder," Garcia answered cheerfully.

"I need all the information you can get on SSA Hadrian Black of the FBI. Including an ID photo that you can guarantee hasn't been switched in the last six months," Morgan said seriously.

"You're not flirting. You always flirt back," Garcia said uncertainly.

"We have an agent I'm not sure we can trust inserting himself into our investigation," Derek said quietly. "I need to know if he is who he says he is as soon as possible."

"On it like sexy on my chocolate god," Garcia flirted. "Sending it to your phones now."

"And the photo?" Morgan said.

"His ID photo is three years old," Garcia replied.

"Or so it says" Morgan said bringing it up on his screen. "He hasn't changed at all, it could have been taken yesterday."

"What about his FBI class photo?" Emily asked.

"He didn't go through the academy. He was seconded from Britain but I can't pin down what exactly he did there or where he trained."

"Who's his section chief Garcia?" Hotch asked joining the conversation.

"He reports to Deputy Director Edmond Clancy here at the FBI and Sir Geoffrey Hobbs in Britain."

"Hotch groaned. "I don't think you're going to find anything else Garcia." Clancy ran the most secretive group in the Bureau, even Black ops were less enigmatic.

"Even Garcia only managed to get a redacted file" Morgan said in disgust.

Reid read through it quicker than most and was on the phone asking Garcia to search for Hadrian Black in Britain before the date he started working for the FBI.

"Okay my Buttercream" Garcia said. "Hit you back when I've got something."

Hadrian had used their distraction to subtly cast muggle notice me not charms on the observation window so they'd be able to see and hear the two of them but would not notice any mention of magic. He was aware that Parkinson's wand wasn't found when she was searched so she was probably still armed.

"Have you all decided if I'm a real agent or Pansy's partner yet?" Hadrian asked. "Because Emily is getting nowhere and I'd really like to wrap this up and get home to my family."

Hotch sighed. "Give it a go."

"We'll be watching" Morgan said.

"Has she been Mirandized?" Hadrian asked.

"Yes" Hotch confirmed.

-o0o-

"Parkinson" Hadrian walked in sneering. "How very unpleasant to see you again."

"Potter! What are you doing here scarhead."

"Lord Gryffindor" Hadrian replied.

"What?"

"You may call me Lord Gryffindor. Considering that last time I saw you, you were trying to convince our classmates to hand me over to a terrorist as a sacrificial victim to save your ass. I have not given you the right to call me anything else" Hadrian explained.

"You can't be," Pansy scoffed.

"You could also call me Lord Slytherin, the goblins recognised me as the magical head of the house of Slytherin after defeating the Dark Wanker the last time," Hadrian offered, deliberately trying to enrage his target. Pansy was normally quite a Slytherin, sly and cunning. He needed her to either get angry enough to let something slip or to attack him so he could charge her with something and therefore question her with Veritaserum. Hopefully since they were in a non-magical police station facing charges in the non-magical world this wouldn't occur to her.

"Now I know you're not smart enough to do this on your own, so tell me who your partner is," Hadrian said sneering.

"You're working for muggles?" Pansy asked incredulously.

"I'm hunting escaped Death Eaters by the most efficient manner possible. Non-magical law enforcement is considerably more effective than your experience of the British Auror Corps," Hadrian replied.

Let's see, who could be helping you?" Hadrian pretended to be talking to himself. "Millicent is still working in Knockturn Alley, Daphne's too clever to get involved in something like this, Tracy Davis is still in the long-term ward at St Mungo's, Crabbe killed himself, Goyle's not any smarter than you are so that counts him out. Blaise and Knott are still in prison. And of course, Draco's busy with that pretty little wife of his playing happy families and pretending he's as light as he can be."

This got the reaction Hadrian had been looking for. "He married that vapid little doll face?" She screeched.

"She's done quite a lot to rehabilitate his family name and as a member of my house I can tell you for certain that he's behaving himself and seems very happy in his marriage," Hadrian poked the bear a little further. "So we've ruled out what few friends you had it must be someone older. You had an older brother, didn't you?"

"Surely you know it wasn't just the Slytherins in our year that willingly joined the Dark Lord?" Pansy

said scathingly.

"Of course, but I was talking about the students that might be able to tolerate you enough to work with you now the Snaky Bastard is dead," Hadrian reported.

Pansy looked furious but didn't say anything.

"Your brother wasn't at the final battle was he Parkinson. Did he run away? He's lucky that I killed his master if that's the case. He didn't deal well with cowards" Hadrian speculated, he knew the magical signature on the body wasn't Pansy's but it did have some marked similarities.

"He didn't run away. He was injured by one of those wretched creatures in the swamps," Pansy felt driven to defend her brother.

"You mean Fred and George's alligators," Hadrian chuckled. "They were brilliant. Still, your brother is lucky Voldiefart didn't survive. He didn't like failures either. And to be incapacitated by a prank is pretty lame." He continued to laugh.

Pansy leapt up and pulled her wand trying to cast a dark cutting curse.

Nothing happened.

"You didn't think I'd be stupid enough to come in here and bait you without backup if the room wasn't warded against that Parkinson," Hadrian sneered reaching across to pull the wand out of her hand. "But thank you. You attempted to assault a federal agent. You're now under arrest. Once your wand has been tested more charges may be laid."

"You bastard!" Pansy exclaimed, trying to snatch her wand back.

Hadrian stored it away safely then used a muggle asthma puffer to deliver the Veritaserum dose.

"What's your full name?" He asked the preliminary question to test her reaction.

"Pansy Patrice Parkinson," she answered in the monotone indicative of Veritaserum. All the other indications proved she was genuinely potioned.

"Did you participate in the kidnap of Bret Symonds?" Hadrian asked.

"No"

"Did you participate in the torture of Bret Symonds?" Hadrian asked.

"Yes"

"Did you participate in the murder of Bret Symonds?" Hadrian asked.

"No"

"Did you participate in the disposal of Bret Symonds body?" Hadrian asked.

"No"

"Who kidnapped Bret Symonds?" Hadrian asked.

"Parnell Parkinson"

"Your brother?" Hadrian asked.

"No my cousin"

"Who murdered Bret Symonds?" Hadrian asked.

"Parnell Parkinson"

"Who participated in the torture of Bret Symonds?" Hadrian asked.

"Parnell Parkinson. Patrick Parkinson and myself"

"Is Patrick Parkinson your brother?" Hadrian asked.

"Yes"

"Are you a death eater?" Hadrian asked.

"No"

"Is Patrick Parkinson a death eater?" Hadrian asked.

"Yes"

"Is Parnell Parkinson a death eater?" Hadrian asked.

"Yes"

"Where is Patrick Parkinson now?" Hadrian asked.

"I don't know."

"Where do you think Patrick Parkinson is now?" Hadrian asked.

"At the farmhouse."

"What's the address of the farmhouse Patrick Parkinson is at?" Hadrian asked.

"255 West Sloan Road"

"Where do you think Parnell Parkinson is now?" Hadrian asked.

"At the farmhouse."

"Who else is likely to be at the farmhouse at 255 West Sloan Road?"

"Nobody."

"Name all the other people that you know that you, Patrick Parkinson and Parnell Parkinson have murdered since arriving in America" Hadrian ordered.

Pansy dutifully recited the names of the four other known victims and six other people.

"Where are their bodies?" Hadrian asked.

"I don't know."

"Were all these people killed at the farmhouse at 255 West Sloan Road?" Hadrian asked.

"Yes."

-o0o-

The others were suspicious that he was planning to lead them into an ambush and he knew that the two Parkinsons wouldn't hesitate to use magic so he dragged the BAU into their temporary office and quickly briefed them on the magical world. Quickly turning a desk into a duck, turning Hotch's hair Tonks' favourite shade of pink before making the troll statue on the windowsill tap-dance.

"What I've shown you are just party tricks but magic can be used to kill, or to control someone else to kill for you. Most spells have a flash of light and believe me you do not want to be hit by any spell the Parkinsons throw at you. If they point a wand at you then you need to react as if they're holding a gun and if they fire a spell, shoot to kill, they will be" he warned once the disbelieving shock had started to wear off.

"We still don't have proof you're not one of them" Morgan said suspiciously.

"Clancy will vouch for me" Hadrian replied calmly. "He'll be pissed I had to tell you about magic but he should be able to allay your suspicions. I'd offer to stay behind but given that I'm the one who knows how they fight it would be better if I took point."

"You talk like this is going to be a battle" Emily said.

"It will. I could bring a team of wizards in to help but if I do that then the top brass will know I told you about magic and they will either take those memories from you or bind you with some very restrictive spells so you can't talk about it. It's your call Hotch, it would be safer but there should only be two people at that farmhouse," Hadrian said.

"How do you know she was telling the truth?" Morgan asked.

"Veritaserum," Hadrian replied. "Truth potion, it makes it literally impossible to lie."

"You're sure they're going to take the suicide by cop? It doesn't fit the profile," Spencer asked.

"They won't see it as possible suicide but they're not going to surrender particularly to non-magical law enforcement. They have a massive superiority complex. These two are both veterans of the last wizarding war in Britain and they will try to kill as many of you as possible. They have no reason not to, they're wanted for charges of treason and genocide in Britain and will be extradited for trial and probable execution," Hadrian said bluntly.

"The woman as well?" Spencer asked. He hadn't been able to get through to her any more than the others but she seemed more lost and weak than evil. She'd been sitting crying since Agent Black had finished his interrogation.

"She'll be tried but she wasn't a marked member of the death eaters so she'll probably just be imprisoned," Hadrian reassured the genius. "She's no innocent though. She participated in the torture of your victims but not in their deaths, though she did know they were going to be killed not released and never tried to help them escape,"

"Then she will still be charged with murder but a really good defence attorney might manage to make the jury think she was also a victim of her brother's and cousin's madness," Hotch replied.

"Not in the wizarding world. We have ways to make people tell the absolute truth," Hadrian reminded him smirking.

-o0o-

The raid went off without a hitch, even magic not being a match for the formidable strategic planning of the BAU. The two wizards were taken into custody. Parnell Parkinson with a bullet wound to the hand where Hotch had shot the wand out of it.

One advantage of working with the BAU was that they had the habit of allowing the local law enforcement to take the credit for the arrests and once they had the unsub in custody with a confession and the evidence for a prosecution, they didn't get involved again unless they were called to testify at the trial. That meant that the only people pissed off at Hadrian taking the three Parkinsons back to Britain to face court martial were the locals who grudgingly admitted that the case he had against them did trump theirs and that the county bean-counters would be grateful not to have the expense of incarcerating and trying the perpetrators so long as Hadrian was prepared to guarantee that they would be returned to them for trial if they weren't convicted in Britain.

-o0o-

The BAU team invited him to dinner while they waited for the jet that night, to apologise for their earlier suspicions. Hadrian gladly accepted, he would be staying an extra day to arrange the transfer of the prisoners to the British Ministry of Magic but the others were all eager to get home.

"You seem to recognise us but I'm sure we never worked with you before, have we?" Emily said suspiciously. "Or have our memories of you been altered?"

"No you haven't met me before, but you gave a friend of mine a lift home in your jet a few months ago. He told me enough about each of you for me to know who you all were, he spoke especially of his gratefulness for your kindness JJ."

"Who? Emily asked.

"Special Agent Tim McGee, NCIS," Hadrian replied.

"The Agent with the toddler and the new baby," JJ realised smiling. "How are they?"

"Doing very well. Tim's busy with work but things are fine. Teddy's settled well into kindergarten and Rosie is starting to babble. She's a little chatterbox, it won't be long before she starts using real words," Hadrian said dotingly.

"And his wife?" JJ asked.

"He told you he had a wife?" Hadrian asked shocked.

"Well no he never mentioned her but how else would he have a new baby at home?" JJ replied.

"Hadrian, does Tim call you Hades?" Spencer asked.

"Yeah he does," Hadrian said relaxing and smiling.

"He mentioned you to me when we were on the train home," Spencer said. "He told me who you are."

Hadrian smiled and nodded. "It's no real secret, NCIS is a civilian annex of the Navy and things really haven't changed much since the repeal of 'Don't Ask Don't Tell' so we've kept it quiet at work, not from his team or mine but from the directors."

"I feel guilty now, not waiting so you can come back with us," Spencer said.

"Don't be, you all have homes to get back to and no doubt a new case waiting soon enough. It might take more than another day for the paper work to go through the channels to approve the extradition and then I'll probably be heading home via London," Hadrian said.

"Do you have friends and family there?" JJ asked.

"Friends" Hadrian confirmed smiling. "It will be good to catch up with them, we've both been busy lately."

"And where's your family from?" Emily asked curiously.

"My parents were killed by a terrorist when I was one and my only living relatives weren't pleased that they were the only family available to take me in. I grew up in Surrey and went to school in Scotland but my family now is in DC," Hadrian replied, making it clear that the subject was not for further discussion.

-o0o-

R/v – A/N: Thank you to madnessdownunder2, Rori Potter, Firehedgehog, DarkRavie, charm13insomnia, Kourtney Uzu Yato, Village-Mystic, julschristine975, SpiritBlackPaw, acherongoddess, MageVicky, xDarklightx, Maben00, LadyDrak75, lilly-flower15, Silvermane1, Merlenyn, laloonay (Guest), serenityselena, DS2010, buterflypuss, kimbarn30, nintschibintschi, .9, Serpent91, Reader Ethiriel, MforMutiny, Zela3, mumimeanjudy, Fallow53 (Guest), rekrula, gabrieljuarezl, Aisha Xu, pernrider, Ella1910, lisa li li, sayurielena, deathguise666, LordDracen, DarkMatterKumos, Thalia0965, easchlaf91, Marauder's Inn, PrincessDucky24, AnnElio44, MoonAngel103, scorpionqueen11, smalladyanel, nananda, DeAD oN SIghT, None1015, Parafet, SeerKnight26, Markhal **,** Funbaby911, sandipi, scubatrex, Shiva89, 109stickit, Astrahan, Echonite, Ravenclaw Samurai, Booksbear, lealavoss, Mouichido13, LunaSunFlowerLily, atemu1993, parzival616, ReoGN, Kizuki-chan, EmitaYaska, CrushingSoul, waim, Simon de Escorpiao, Spaceystacey81, Darkness of a Fallen Angel, fireyhell, karekid2004, Darkest-Dark-Lady, Allusive Ryder, Raina King, orlitza2000, Gemna Destiny Seer, Librica, 5SecsOfLARRYcat, moorejr, Fandom Feathers, mochastwocents, Silver no Yoko, Timora23, OceanButterfly, oakphoenix, JaxieRose and LWJ2 for your support.


	56. Chapter 56

Chapter 56

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or NCIS or any of their characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do NOT give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

Kingsley and Robbards were delighted with the capture. Delighted enough that Robbards came in person to collect the prisoners rather than making Hadrian portkey back and forwards to London like he had to do last time. They did take the precaution of bringing a chess set with them and Hadrian promised to post back the pieces they left behind, replaced by the transfigured two death eaters and Voldemort supporter and several transfigured vials of memories.

Hadrian had been pleased to see them and updated Robbards on what had been going on in his life since he'd last officially been in London.

"So, your relatives got their comeuppance after all," Robbards said chuckling. "Kingsley was so angry after the war when you would not let him arrest them for the way you were treated as a child. He couldn't understand why Dumbledore was so insistent on protecting them."

"Dumbledore had promised they'd be protected in return for them taking me in. Even though they didn't treat me well he felt obligated to keep his word. I can't fault him for that and I was prepared to put it all behind me. Particularly after all the nastiness of the war. I didn't want to give people another reason or excuse to dislike muggles or espouse the pureblood beliefs but I must admit to feeling some satisfaction in seeing them punished now. Their greed couldn't leave my money alone. I had hoped that with me and magic out of their lives they could be happier. When you try to look at it from their point of view, Dumbledore did them almost as much of a disservice leaving me with them as he did me," Hadrian explained.

"I've been meaning to talk to you about the rumours going around about the number of squib children that have been murdered in England. Everyone who knows anything seems to think that the rumours might come from something you told Hannah Longbottom," Robbards said.

"I have no proof except for the number of children born to Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy on the Black family tree that died just after their eleventh birthdays, and the number of Black children that died over the generations as well though none in my generation," Hadrian said. "Draco told me about several of his friends telling him about having older siblings die or disappear a couple of months before they would have gone off to Hogwarts as well. Of course, the others could have been abandoned in the muggle world but given who their parents were, I think most of them died."

"Is there any way to tell?" Robbards asked.

"Other than questioning all the parents under veritaserum?" Hadrian said sardonically. "Wouldn't the other old families have a family tree also. I know Sirius told me that displaying them had gone out of fashion but I doubt they'd have destroyed them."

"Perhaps they went out of fashion because they'd prove the deaths of the children?" Robbards said.

"More likely because they prove the families were birthing squibs," Hadrian replied.

"You managed to drop this in my lap via gossip," Robbards bitched at him. "Why didn't you tell me this shit when you heard it."

"What could you have done? There was nothing we could really do about it at the time you had your hands full just re-establishing peacetime policing and laws. Most of my information is hearsay and all the squib children's deaths I heard about, had parents who were either dead, in Azkaban or missing by the time I found about it," Hadrian said. "I only told Hannah because I was trying to convince her that marrying relatives is a bad idea genetically. I knew with her gossiping skills half the younger generation will hear about it within weeks, maybe it will make a difference. Otherwise the pureblood British wizarding world are going to breed themselves into extinction."

"And that would be a bad thing?" Robbards asked.

"Not enough muggleborns stay in Britain once they realise the bigotry isn't as bad in the rest of the world. Add the number of witches and wizards killed in the war and the population isn't sustainable unless something changes," Hadrian replied. "I want to do something to rescue the muggleborns that are trapped in the bigotry, not pure blooded enough to get a decent job in the magical word and not well enough educated to get a decent job in the nonmagical world, but I can't justify doing it if it's going to end up wiping out the British wizarding world entirely. We need to get rid of the pure blood ideology and then the bigotry will die out by itself."

"And you thought that the best way to change things was to set Hannah Longbottom loose to gossip about it?" Robbards asked shaking his head in disbelief.

"Well they wouldn't have listened to me directly. Hannah's a pureblood and she knows everyone. People listen to her. And you know that the whispers of gossip have more effect on beliefs than an official statement or public announcement," Hadrian said.

Robbards had to laugh. "You're unbelievably Slytherin sometimes. I can't believe you were a Gryffindor."

"Of course, it would help if you found a way to publicly announce that I was right about the squibs" Hadrian added. "And to start prosecuting parents for killing their children, though most of them will be hard to catch. It's difficult to know how many children we're even talking about when they've been kept hidden all their lives."

"Your gossip is starting to change that. It's become fashionable lately for light families to take their young children with them to Diagon Alley and visits to other light houses, the neutrals have started to follow suit and even Malfoy brought his baby in to show off around the ministry last week," Robbards said amused.

"So even if we don't manage to identify all the parents that killed their squib children we've managed to put a halt to the practice," Hadrian said grinning.

"Can you give us access to the Black family tapestry?" Robbards asked. "It would be a start at least, then I'd have reason to question the Malfoys and find out what Draco knows about the others. It should snowball from there. I'll arrange for the question to be added to the standard veritaserum questioning too."

"Sure, call for Winky when you get back to England. I'll get my elves here to send her a message to bring it to you when you call her," Hadrian planned.

"Thanks Hadrian," Robbards said getting up to take his leave.

"I'll see you soon, I've been spending a bit of time in England lately trying to sort out the mess of my friendship with Ron and Hermione," Hadrian replied.

"You're more forgiving than I would be," Robbards stated.

"Yeah well there was a time they were pretty much my only friends. I want to give Hermione one last chance before I wash my hands of them completely," Hadrian said firmly.

"Do me a favour and visit Kingsley next time you're in London" Robbards said right before he activated his portkey.

Hadrian grinned and apparated home.

-o0o-

"I think we should add another vow for each of us," Hermione suggested writing it down while Ron read over her shoulder. 'I vow to consider Harry James Potter and his family as my family and to protect them like I would my own.'

"Why should we vow that?" Ron asked, still more than a little upset by the way Harry was interfering in his marriage. Though he had to admit that Hermione was much happier now that she had a way to change things. He liked it, the house was much more pleasant, and the food and their relationship were better. Though in the back of his mind he was suspicious that Hermione was only happier because Harry was back in her life. He wasn't sure whether to be grateful to his best mate for making his life better or jealous that Harry may be able to make Hermione happy when he failed to do it. As a result, he reacted badly whenever Hermione said his name

"Because we've treated him really shoddily over the mess with your sister," Hermione said. "She and your Mom behaved so badly that he had to leave the country just to be able to do his job and we pretty much abandoned him for leaving."

"He broke my sister's heart when he broke of their engagement," Ron said.

"He never would have proposed if she wasn't feeding him love potions. I doubt he would have wanted to get back together at all after the war," Hermione retorted. "Ginny had to know he didn't really love her or she wouldn't have had to keep dosing him." Hermione rather doubted that Ginny had been heartbroken, she believed her sister-in-law was more upset that her fantasies of being rich and famous had been dashed and her pride had been hurt. "What happened Ron? When you first found out about the potions you were furious with Ginny for potioning your best friend, and even before that you were surprised he put up with how badly Ginny treated him and supported him when they fought over her tantrums. Now you talk like Ginny was the perfect girlfriend and Harry was a monster for what he did to her. Perhaps you needed to see the healer to be checked for memory and compulsion charms too."

She pulled out her wand and attempted to cast the strongest Finite Incantatem she could.

-o0o-

It was just over a week before Hadrian heard from Hermione again. He'd given her his mobile number, aware that the country code on the front would tell her he was somewhere in the united states.

"Hadrian," he answered curtly knowing it was a call from Britain. Whoever it was hadn't paid attention to the time differences and it was almost midnight in DC.

"Harry?" Hermione asked nervously.

"Yeah, how are you Hermione?"

"I'm fine, Ron and I have agreed on vows and are ready to complete the ritual. Fred and George have given us Sunday and Monday off to do it. Not that they know what we're doing. We just told them we needed some time to ourselves. Molly is going to look after Rose for us," Hermione rambled slightly.

"Okay I'll come see you tomorrow to set things up," Hadrian replied.

Hadrian and Tim had talked it over and decided to use the house in Hawaii. Hannah already knew about it so it would be better if she and Ron were keeping the same house secret in case they both let something slip and Hawaii had the least restrictive laws on ritual magic anywhere in the world.

He thought about clearing the master bedroom or main lounge of furniture for the ritual but then slightly vindictively decided that they could do it outside on the beach. He knew a spell that would pack the sand hard enough to draw the rune circle on. And it would allow him or Tim to observe the ritual from a distance rather than one of them hiding themselves under the invisibility cloak and being in the room to make sure Ron went through his part and said the vows they had agreed on. The weather was warm enough but he was sure it would shock Ron's Victorian sensibilities to be expected to have sex outdoors under the bright moonlight. He checked the tide times and they were just about perfect the tide would be low enough for he and Hermione to draw the rune circle before the sun set, then wait for dark to perform the ritual though he had to admit it would have amused him to make them perform the ritual in full sunlight (without telling Ron about sunscreen charms) if the tides had been suited to that. He deserved a bit of discomfort for allowing their earlier stupidity to corrupt their marriage, after all.

-o0o-

Tim and Hadrian portkeyed back to Britain to meet with Hermione and finalise plans to portkey them to the ritual space.

"We'll do the same as we did last time and give the portkeys to Kingsley so he can make sure that only the two of you arrive at the ritual sight," Tim told her.

"You still don't trust me?" Hermione asked bitterly.

"We still don't trust Ron and Ginny and Molly," Hadrian replied bluntly. "You can't tell me you don't believe Molly or Ginny wouldn't set up an ambush if they knew about this."

"Ron hasn't told them!" Hermione exclaimed.

"Maybe not, but you know as well as I do that he's not too keen on having to go through this ritual and make those marriage vows to you. Getting rid of us would be the only way to get out of it without consequences, in his opinion. Are you absolutely certain that he wouldn't try?" Hadrian asked.

Hermione sighed, "He wouldn't hurt you," she protested weakly.

"Are you prepared to stake my life on that?" Tim asked. "What about Hade's life?"

"Kingsley will have the portkeys. Because of the time difference I need you to portkey over at midnight to help me draw the rune circle and Ron to follow at seven o'clock Saturday morning for the ritual," Hadrian said.

"Why can't he come with me?" Hermione asked.

"You mean what if he doesn't turn up?" Tim asked perceptively. "Bring Rose with you. We can have Tollie look after her. He'll come if it's the only way to see his wife and daughter again."

"He can't come with you because it's going to take hours for us to draw the rune circles and I don't want him wandering around my home by himself and it isn't fair to expect Tim to babysit him at gunpoint," Hadrian added pragmatically.

"Do you have a copy of the vows you've agreed on so we know what Ron has to vow?" Tim asked.

"Yeah here," Hermione handed the list to Hadrian.

Hadrian immediately held it out to Tim without looking at it. "You need to try to get to know Tim. How would you like it if I treated someone you loved the way you treat him for no reason?" he said to Hermione.

Hermione flushed, "I'm sorry Harry it's just so hard."

"I realise that I'm pretty much the only one of your friends not to marry someone who went to Hogwarts and through the war with us. But that doesn't give him the right to try to shut him out. Do you do that to your parents too?" Hadrian asked.

"No but it's hard to be with them, they just don't understand all the things we've been through" Hermione replied.

"And whose fault is that. You lied to them for years to keep them in the dark about the bigotry and the danger in the wizarding world and then when the war came you wiped their memories and compelled them to leave the country. They would have tried to be there for you through it all if you'd let them," Hadrian retorted.

"They don't understand my marriage. It just creates trouble to have them here when Ron's home" Hermione complained.

"Hell Hermione, I don't understand your marriage. I'll never understand how you forgave him for leaving us in the tent and trusted him again so wholeheartedly. And you could've had almost anyone after the war, surely there were wizards that you had more in common with, that respected your brains and your need to continue learning. Not to mention the vows you made without researching them," Harry said throwing his hands in the air and pacing around the kitchen.

"Hades, I think you ought to read this" Tim said holding out the parchment of vows.

Hadrian looked at him oddly before coming to get the parchment and plopping down into the seat beside him to look at it.

"You guys don't need to do that!" Hadrian protested once he'd read it.

"I can't think of any other way to make it so you can trust us again," Hermione replied. "I'm perfectly happy to make this vow if it gets me my best friend back."

"Was Ron perfectly happy too, or did you have to talk him into it somehow?" Hadrian asked.

"I talked him into it" Hermione admitted. "But it wasn't hard to do once I explained why. He wants to fix our friendship too."

"Hermione, are you sure you want to do this? Tim is my family now," Hadrian asked bluntly. "You haven't even shown that you're interested in becoming friends with him much less accepting him into your family."

"Harry, you are more my family than Ron's brothers and sister. You're right I hadn't really been thinking of Tim as your family, I was thinking about Teddy and the baby Rosie. But it doesn't change things Harry I want you to be able to trust me with Tim as well as with your children," Hermione said earnestly.

"You should let them do this if they want to," Tim said. "You want your friendship with Hermione back as much as they do."

Hadrian nodded. "You'll need to use my full name" he said writing it down for her.

"Merlin! Did you know this before you left?" Hermione asked.

"Hermione, you knew this before I left. So did the Weasleys" Hadrian said shocked and concerned.

Hermione frowned. "I did? Are you sure?"

"Hermione, I think you need to see a mind healer. I told you about it when I found out and you heard me use my full name when I ended my engagement a couple of weeks after that," Hadrian said worriedly.

"You mean that you're not the only wizard who finds it convenient to obliviate me at will?" Hermione asked sarcastically.

"Hermione, I have never actually obliviated you. I had Robbards lock away your memories when you found us at work that day to protect Tim but I promise you that until a moment ago, that was the only time I knew about your memory being altered," Hadrian said honestly.

"I can't afford a healer," Hermione said embarrassed. "St Mungo's isn't on the NHS."

"I'll pay for a healer, but we can't go with you," Hadrian said. "I don't want my first public appearance in Britain in years to be at the healers with someone else's wife. Rita Skeeter will have a field day."

Tim laughed. "Yeah but she's not just another man's wife. From what you've told me everyone knows you're Hermione's best friend."

"That wouldn't matter to Skeeter," Hermione said cynically. "Or to whoever read whatever salacious gossip she wrote."

"You could take her to Healer Roberts," Tim suggested.

"The only way I could take her without telling her where we lived would be to stun her before portkeying her to him and again before we left. I doubt Roberts would take it very well," Hadrian said amused.

"I could take her to St Mungo's, or you could use that glamour spell to change your appearance," Tim suggested next.

"Any man with me other than Ron would draw too much attention. You could polyjuice into Ron," Hermione suggested.

"I don't happen to carry around two or three vials of polyjuice potion in my pockets," Hadrian said sarcastically.

"I could get some from the twins," Hermione said.

"Without telling them what you want it for?" Hadrian asked. "If you promise to use it on seeing a mind healer I will just give you the money." He remembered his thoughts on her research habits changing so drastically and decided he wanted her checked for curses and any other form of mind altering as well. He resolved to talk about it with Healer Roberts, perhaps the man would agree to be portkeyed to England or Hawaii for the assessment.

"I will Harry. I want to know what's happened to me," Hermione said earnestly. "I want to know how I could give up so many things that were important to me."

"I'd rather you not see a British healer. I'll try to have a healer meet you before the ritual," Hadrian promised.

-o0o-

Healer Roberts happily agreed to come to Hawaii to do the consultation with Hermione in return for a week's holiday with his family so Hadrian made him a portkey and told him that he would bring Hermione to him at the end of the week as he didn't want Hermione going back anywhere near Ron or any other Weasley once she'd been cleared of all compulsions, obliviations and behaviour modifications. After careful thought the Healer had given him a written order that he wanted Ron to give to his wife before bringing her to him.

"I have to admit your plan to add more vows is ingenious and it should go a long way in increasing the amount of freedom your friend has Hadrian. But it won't free her completely. Her husband can still give her any order that he can convince himself is in her best interests whether it truly is or not" Healer Roberts warned him.

"I know but other than killing Ron, there isn't much else we can do. It could be dangerous to have them in a situation where he couldn't give her any orders at all. Particularly in Britain where there is still a lot of resentment brewing from the last war. He's got to be able to alert her to danger without risking losing his magic with a badly worded statement."

"Yes I agree" Healer Roberts said seriously.

"So what else can I do? I'd hide her if she wanted me to but it would mean leaving her child, her parents, friends and her whole life behind. She doesn't want to do that," Hadrian asked the healer.

"There is another way out of the marriage. It is rarely used and I think probably unheard of in Britain" The healer said. "Their wedding vows are enforced by their magic, so if we removed their magic then they'd be free of them."

"You mean bound it like Tim's? But he was still able to make magical vows" Hadrian replied.

"No unfortunately, I mean actually destroying their magical cores. It is an extremely painful ritual and it would take them months to recover their strength. It is not to be done lightly, the sense of loss is overwhelming, some witches and wizards never get over the depression." Healer Roberts said.

"I'll offer them the choice. Would it have to be both of them?" Hadrian asked.

"I'm not sure, but I think it would have to be your friend. She's the one who made the vows. If she wants to take this path I would suggest performing the ritual on her then if she still feels compelled to obey his orders you could perform it on his as well," the healer suggested.

"So she's the one punished for wanting to get out of this hellish situation. I think before we try that maybe she should just leave. Go into hiding somewhere and set mail wards so he can't contact her to order her to come back" Hadrian said.

"I'm not sure that would work either, because your friend would know that her husband would order her to come home. Does she have to follow unspoken orders like that?"

"Um I don't know" Hadrian replied.

"I don't think she does. She's given her daughter a muggle toy which she keeps hidden from her husband because she knows he would make her throw it out and not replace it if he found out" Tim said frowning thoughtfully.

-o0o-

Hadrian portkeyed Hermione to the beach house in Hawaii and took her up to the house to meet Healer Roberts. "It's beautiful here, is it a wizarding house?" Hermione said.

"It was, we're in the process of having electricity and a generator installed. Tim was fine with the gas lights and no internet for short periods but with his job, unless he's officially on leave he can't be that out of touch."

"Hello Hadrian" the Healer came out to greet them.

"Hey, did you have a nice holiday?" Hadrian asked.

"It was wonderful. We went across the island and spent some time in the town but most of our time was just appreciating the peace and quiet" the healer said enthusiastically.

"We've never been into the town. Do you have any recommendations for places to visit or not visit?" Hadrian grinned.

"Not really, you can't go wrong from what we saw, it was all interesting and everyone was very friendly"

"This is Hermione Weasley, Hermione this is my healer, Healer Roberts," Hadrian introduced.

"You have your own healer?" Hermione asked.

"The magical health service where I live is a lot more similar to the muggle system in England and the magical hospital is only for emergencies. Healer Roberts works as a GP," Hadrian explained. "He doesn't normally make house calls but I offered him a week here with his family in return for seeing you today."

"Thank you for seeing me," Hermione said.

"I'll leave you to it," Hadrian said. "I'll be out on the veranda when you're done Hermione."

"You're not going to start the rune circle?" Hermione asked.

"Can't for another hour or two," Hadrian replied.

The healer found several compulsion spells on Hermione but nothing recent. "You've had these spells for a decade or more, I'm not entirely sure what changes you'll notice in your personality when I remove them but you will need to be patient with yourself and forgive yourself for the actions you've taken that in hindsight now seem wrong or unexplainable," he warned her.

"Please remove them." Hermione demanded anxiously.

"Done." Healer Roberts said smiling a few minutes later.

"I don't feel any different!" Hermione said suspiciously.

"I don't expect you will until you come across a facet of your life the spells were influencing," the healer said gently. "The modifications were placed before you were fully grown and they've been on so long now that the reactions they produced may have become habits or even influenced the way the rest of your mind has developed."

"So you're saying that it's too late, removing the spells might not fix anything?" Hermione asked upset.

"It's not too late unless you let it be. You may want to question some of the habits and behaviours you don't like about yourself. Now that the spells are removed you have the opportunity to change," Healer Roberts said gently.

-o0o-

A/N: Thank you to Kourtney Uzu Yato, julschristine975, Aeryun, DarkRavie, xDarklightx, Kaorilamb, lilly-flower15, Firehedgehog, Shelleykids, charm13insomnia, MageVicky, TwinTigerLover, Rori Potter, Guest, .9, buterflypuss, acherongoddess, mother oracle, sandipi, lia (Guest), Guest, Vladimir Mithrander, Reader Ethiriel, Village-Mystic, madnessdownunder2, serenityselena, gabrieljuarezl, SpiritBlackPaw, kimbarn30, Silvermane1, Serpent91, LunaSunFlowerLily, LadyDrak75, Maben00, Fallow53 (Guest), Goddess Seshat, Aima (Guest), Gotham-Pixie, Lady Vaughan, blacksista4eva, Aura Jackson Potter Di Angelo, E. Chickarita, AlexWhiteTiger, TangoTwo, akire26, Hkcutiepie1352, ShadowMystic56, Bruna Snape2, spikelouver19, Kat Riddle, Moki Mischief, Hikaru Emiya, jackie-chan1230, renbergk, Alianna013, Adurna-Brisingr, Verdandi105, RavenPythium, NinjaHarryPotter4life, Only-4-you, Andromeda-170, mobulis, MissJu-chan and EMMACAT for your support.


	57. Chapter 57

Chapter 57

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or NCIS or any of their characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do NOT give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

Hadrian thanked the healer and gave him his return portkey before he took Hermione out to the beach to begin drawing out the rune circle they needed for the ritual.

"Does it have to be outside?" Hermione asked.

"Tim and I decided that we need to be in hearing distance and close enough to take Ron out if things go pear shaped. We could do it inside in the lounge but out here we can watch from the balcony instead of being right outside the circle. We thought it would be less embarrassing for all four of us," Hadrian replied casually.

"The ritual said it didn't need a witness," Hermione protested confused.

"It doesn't but Ron needs witnesses to make sure he makes the vows as promised," Hadrian said uncompromisingly.

"You couldn't use magic to penetrate the rune circle!" Hermione exclaimed. "Do you have any idea what the consequences could be?"

"You're right, we'd have to shoot him," Hadrian replied calmly. He didn't say that it would have to be a kill shot and even that would be a risk if the shot blew him onto the runes and he bled into them before he died.

"What!" Hermione screeched.

Hadrian pulled out his wand and erased the last rune she'd drawn wrongly. "You need to concentrate" he said.

"You just threatened to shoot my husband" Hermione said crossly.

"Only if he deliberately messes up the ritual. He knows this was the alternative to agreeing to go through with it" Hadrian said. "If you'd married a stranger I probably would have already shot him by now to get you out of this mess."

"He didn't cast those compulsions on me" Hermione reminded him.

"No, from the age of them he couldn't have. I suspect it was Dumbledore though I've no idea why" Hadrian agreed.

"It could've been Molly, though I don't know why she'd do that either, not that long ago" Hermione said. "She did obliviate me once or twice, but the person who obliviated me from knowing your full name and title was Percy, and most of the others since you broke off your engagement were Ginny."

"Did he say why he didn't want you to know my titles when he obliviated you?" Hadrian asked.

"He said you didn't deserve them, particularly not since you abandoned Britain," Hermione replied.

"Kingsley said the Weasley's took a fair bit of heat for their harassment of me after I left" Hadrian said.

"Yeah, people blamed them for you wanting to leave after your broken engagement and all the publicity" Hermione said.

"It wasn't entirely their fault" Hadrian replied.

"Did you have compulsions too?" Hermione asked.

"Not by the time they tested for them, but then they wouldn't have survived what happened in the battle of Hogwarts, and I wasn't tested until after that," Hadrian replied. The experts were sure that the reason why he was more powerful after he recovered from the battle than he'd been before was that any compulsions or blocks on his magical core would have dissipated in the minute or so he'd been dead in the forbidden forest.

"Do you have any idea what they were compelling you to do? Do you feel any different?"

"Other than feeling furious that someone did this to me?" Hermione said frustrated. "No, I don't. Healer Roberts said I should notice when I come up against a situation they would have influenced. He said to try to think about how I would like to see myself reacting to things and make decisions that way."

Hermione was still furious over the compulsions the healer had removed from her magical core but she could see that Harry honestly didn't have any answers for her so she tried to let the matter drop.

"Are you sure this ritual is legal here?" Hermione asked hesitantly, as she continued to draw runes.

"I'm sure. Even voodoo is legal here, except for the really black magic stuff" Hadrian said dryly.

"Besides the property is warded well enough to hide even the most powerful magic."

"We're in Hawaii?" Hermione asked surprised that he slipped and gave away their location. "Have you done ritual magic here?" Hermione asked. "This flat sand is ideal for rune circles."

"Yes, we're in Hawaii, don't get excited though I don't live here. No, the only ritual I've done is our wedding ritual but Tim and I got married at home, and yeah the beach is ideal for drawing rune circles but we only have about six hours before the tide starts to cover it again" Hadrian replied making Hermione blush at her old habit of asking so many questions without waiting for answers.

"Tim and Ron will be here in three hours so we better get to work" she said.

He started drawing the inner circle of runes and Hermione watched him critically for a few minutes before starting work on the next ring. Two hours later they looked over the finished rune circles in satisfaction, neither could find any errors so Hadrian took her up to the house, offered her refreshments and showed her a room she could use to prepare herself for the ritual. "Tim and my room and the house elves quarters are on the other side if the house and there's nobody else who had access to the house. I'll ask the elves to remain in their quarters until you complete the ritual and return to your room so you will be completely private other than one of us here to guarantee Ron makes the vows he has promised" Hadrian told her.

"Will you turn your back?" Hermione asked blushing.

Hadrian shook his head. "I'll make an effort not to watch but I won't turn my back on Ron while he's got a wand" he replied unapologetically.

"Harry" Hermione protested.

"Hermione, you're asking me to trust him when you don't yourself" Hadrian said. "He's pretty angry about this ritual and you know what he's like when he's angry he acts first and regrets it later. I'm not willing to risk Tim or myself being hurt."

"But I'm going to be naked" Hermione said embarrassed.

"Will it help any to remind you that I'm gay?" Hadrian asked bluntly. "I have absolutely no desire to see you naked, though I'm sure you're as beautiful nude as you are fully dressed. And if Ron objects you can tell him that I find red hair and freckles to be a real turn off."

Hermione giggled nervously.

"Seriously Hermione the moon's barely at half, it won't be bright enough to see details and heterosexual porn really doesn't do it for me."

"You're really gay, not bisexual?" Hermione asked.

"Totally gay! I've loved two women in my life. You who I love like a sister and have never been sexually attracted to any more than if you were my biological sister, and Ginny who had to potion me to the gills to get me to love her. Even then I was perfectly content with some fairly tame snogging" Hadrian said honestly.

"I can't believe that you find guys attractive" Hermione murmured.

"I can't believe that you find Ron attractive but I'm willing to look past that and be friends. Are you?" Hadrian shot back hiding his anxiety with a tease.

Hermione laughed. "Yes. You're still Harry" she said hugging him. "Now scoot I need to bathe."

"Bye Hermione" Hadrian said affectionately.

-o0o-

Ron didn't arrive at the scheduled time and Hadrian sighed before calling Kingsley to see if he'd tried to pick up the portkey.

"No Hadrian, I'm sorry but he hasn't been by," Kingsley said.

Hadrian sighed. "At least he didn't arrive with an army of Weasleys to try to ambush me."

"I have plenty of paperwork to catch up on. I can hang around the office another couple of hours" Kingsley offered.

"Thanks for the offer, Kingsley. I don't want to ruin your weekend. I'm going to go get him" Hadrian said careful to be polite in spite of his anger.

"Be careful Hadrian. Do you want to stop in and pick me up on the way in case you need back up? I must admit it would give me great satisfaction to have just cause to stun Molly Weasley," Kingsley said grimly.

"What's she been interfering with now?" Hadrian asked.

"She's been campaigning for Ron to be reinstated as an Auror" Kingsley said.

"You could let him sit the entrance exam to retrain, I doubt he'd pass" Hadrian offered. "Or give her the information on adult education so he could get the requisite NEWTs to qualify. Or you could put him through the gauntlet set at its highest level and let him get himself killed."

"I did in fact let her know we would consider an application for the Auror academy without prejudice over what happened in the past" Kingsley replied. "She threw a major tantrum demanding he be reinstated immediately to his previous position."

Hadrian sighed. "Ron hasn't mentioned it to me" he said.

"Don't feel obligated to discuss it with him Hadrian. Mending your friendship is going to be difficult enough without that," Kingsley said. "I'll deal with Molly."

-o0o-

Tim stopped Hadrian from going after Ron and had Dobby pop to Ron and disarm him before pooping him to the island, rather than collect him in his flat and risk being ambushed by his family.

"You didn't need to do that" Ron complained. "That's the most uncomfortable way to travel."

"You've never taken an international portkey?" Tim asked surprised.

"You had the choice Ron, you could have picked up the portkey and come willingly. Am I to take it that the fact you didn't come means you've changed your mind about going through with the ritual?"

Ron didn't answer and Hadrian led him to the room next to Hermione's ordering him to shower and put on nothing but the robe on the bed.

"You mean no trousers?" Ron protested.

"How exactly do you think you're going to participate in a sex ritual with your trousers on?" Hadrian asked amused. "This isn't just a quick shag up against a wall."

"But you'll see" Ron protested.

"Nothing I haven't seen hundreds of times before in the quidditch showers," Hadrian reminded him.

"I'll promise not to look closely."

"Do you have to be there. You don't have to take part or anything, do you?" Ron asked, looking disturbed and jealous.

"Ron did you even read the information I sent you?" Hadrian asked incredulously.

"No need, Hermione read it," Ron replied.

"Did you at least read the vows?" Harry asked rolling his eyes.

"Yeah," Ron said sourly. "You can't really expect me to vow all that rubbish!"

"You agreed to them all last week. What specifically do you have a problem with?" Hadrian asked. The vows all seemed somewhat reasonable to him compared to the vows Hermione had already made.

"She wants me to vow not to order her to do anything she strongly disagrees with," Ron complained.

"She's going to argue with me about everything."

"Well you did let her vow to obey you without warning her she would be magically compelled to obey every order you gave no matter how much she hated it. And then you took advantage of that to get your own way in everything instead of trying to compromise. You didn't even care that you were making her miserable.

"She's not really miserable, we have a nice flat thanks to you and a beautiful healthy little girl. What more could she want" Ron protested.

"Believe me she is miserable, I'd almost say she's clinically depressed and should see a mind healer. You knew she didn't want to give up work and have a baby straight away" Hadrian said. "And you knew she wanted to go back to work as soon as she could wean the baby. She's only still feeding her because she can't afford to buy formula unless she goes back to work and you won't let her."

"She agreed!" Ron yelled.

"Before the wedding when she actually had a choice or after when she was forced to do what you told her to?" Hadrian asked furiously. "How can you not see how much she hates staying home all day, how much she misses working at the ministry. She's not your mother Ron, she's never going to be happy being a stay at home mum. In fact, if you could get past your pride I think you'd both be happier if you stayed home with Rose and Hermione went out to work, and better off too because the ministry will pay her a lot more than the twins pay you. How can you be so thick as not to see that Hermione is following your orders because she has to not because she wants to or agrees with you."

Ron looked on in shock as Hadrian paced around the room, his magical aura flaring in extreme anger.

"You know, I thought about making you vow to obey her as well but it would end in disaster both of you giving orders the other has to obey and resenting the orders they'd been given. It wouldn't take long for you both to start actively trying to make each other as unhappy as possible. And even that might be okay if you didn't have a child but Rose is the one to suffer when the two of you aren't able to live in harmony."

"Ron, you agreed to these vows last week. What's changed your mind?" Tim asked.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" Ron asked rounding on Tim. "This is none of your business."

"Perhaps, but Hadrian asked me to be involved. He doesn't trust you not to lose your temper and try to attack him if the two of you were alone. Besides, this is my house. You can't kick me out of it" Tim replied annoyed. "So why don't you stop yelling for the sake of it and tell us what has changed since you agreed to these vows last week. Or is it just that you thought you and Hadrian were alone and you might be able to bully or threaten him to change his mind?"

"I didn't think you'd really go through with it" Ron admitted. "Harry, you're my mate. Why would you do this to me?"

"The vows Hermione and I want you to make aren't anywhere near as controlling as the ones you and Molly encouraged Hermione to make at your wedding and you know it" Hadrian retorted. "I'm trying to get my best friend out of an intolerable situation where she's literally being treated like a slave. If you don't think the vows you're going to have to make are fair, then why did you do this to Hermione?" Hadrian demanded furiously.

"I didn't mean to, I mean they were just traditional wedding vows. What's wrong with that?" Ron protested.

"There is no way your mother made those vows, nor did Fleur when she married Bill or Aubrey to Percy, and there was no way that she would have let Ginny make them either. I saw the wedding vows Ginny was planning on using and they sure as fuck weren't 'love, honour and obey'" Hadrian retorted.

"She's going to go back to work and leave me looking after the baby" Ron complained drunkenly. "I'll be a laughingstock!"

"If you hadn't wanted to look after the baby you shouldn't have forced her to have one. You knew how important her career was to her" Hadrian said fed-up with his so-called friend's whining. "Besides, I'm sure your Mum will look after the baby of you asked her to."

"Hermione doesn't want Mum to look after her" Ron replied morosely. "Says she doesn't want her daughter bought up to believe that making the best marriage you can and then staying home and looking after a quidditch team full of children is a reasonable ambition for a modern woman, witch or not."

"Well I'm glad you listen to her at least enough to know her real opinion on something" Hadrian said dryly. "And she's right, besides there's plenty of child care options in the non-magical world."

"Why don't you say muggle like everybody else?" Ron griped.

"Actually, Britain is the only place that uses the word muggle. It's considered an insult in the rest of the English-speaking world" Hadrian replied. "Back to the point, there are three possible solutions to Hermione's situation, the most pleasant one is for you to go through the ritual and say all of the vows you agreed to last week."

"And the other two?" Ron asked.

"Either one, you allow me destroy your magical core leaving you a 'muggle' freeing Hermione from the magic that binds her vows to you, or two, I kill you leaving her a widow and the vows die with you" Hadrian said bluntly.

"You couldn't murder me!" Ron exclaimed.

"It wouldn't be murder if that's the option you chose. It would be assisted suicide which is not a crime here on these islands," Hadrian retorted. "There are many legal rituals I could choose to do which require the willing sacrifice of a human life."

"That's dark magic" Ron protested.

"Perhaps, but we're not in Britain where all borderline dark magic is illegal," Tim replied.

"You're not a dark wizard!" Ron exclaimed.

"No I'm not, that's why I'm giving you the choice," Hadrian said turning to leave the room. "Now get in the bloody shower and prepare for the ritual or choose which of the other options you'd prefer."

"He couldn't kill me in cold blood," Ron said shakily.

"I'm sure he could, but he won't have to. If you choose to be killed, I'll shoot you to save him from having to kill a former friend," Tim replied leaving the room and shutting the door. The windows and doors had all been spelled not to be opened from the inside. There was no escape for Ron. He sat and sulked for a bit complaining about the unfairness of it all.

"The ritual needs to be completed before the tide comes in and washed away the rune circle. If you're going through with the ritual, then you need to start getting ready" Hadrian used sonorous to call through the door without getting close enough to get into another argument.

-o0o-

"Ron, one more thing to remember during the ritual, you need to mean it" Hadrian said urgently as they walked down to the beach.

"Huh?" Ron queried, more concerned about holding the robe Hadrian left for him closed. He felt deeply uncomfortable heading outside to perform a sex ritual while his best mate was going to watch.

"The vows. They won't work unless you mean what you say. You have to want to make those vows to Hermione, to mean each one as you say it, or the magic won't work" Hadrian explained.

He could easily read from Ron's expression that he hoped the ritual didn't work.

"I'll be able to see if the magic doesn't work Ron. Then you'll be left choosing from the other options just as if you refused to do the ritual" Hadrian reminded him.

"Then what the bloody hell am I supposed to do?" Ron demanded. "How can I make it work."

"You have to want it to work. To intend your magic to hold you to keeping the vows" Hadrian replied.

"But I don't want to do this" Ron retorted.

"Then we're back to the choice between agreeing to be turned into a muggle or dying" Hadrian said. "If those are your alternatives then you do want this ritual to work so you need to speak clearly and focus on wanting each vow to work," Hadrian instructed.

"And if I won't then you'll kill me?" Ron asked scared.

"Yeah hopefully the desire to make the ritual work in order to avoid certain death will be enough for the magic to accept the vows," Hadrian replied.

Leaving Ron at the top of the stairs he re-joined Tim on the balcony.

"Do you think this is going to work?" Tim asked.

Hadrian sighed. "Merlin only knows, but I hope so. It worked for us because we both wanted to be bound together that way and neither of us had any hesitation when we made any of our vows. I don't know if Hermione's desire to escape her current situation and Ron's desire not to get shot is going to be enough."

"What will you do if it doesn't work?" Tim asked anxiously, he longed to hear that Hadrian would agree that he'd done all he could and that he'd walk away.

"I don't know, I'll offer to help Hermione leave if that's what she wants to do. If not I'll keep an eye on them and step in again if Rose is being hurt by the situation. She's one of the main reasons I'm doing this. Sure, I want to help Hermione get out of the trap she's made for herself but when all's said and done she made it, but Rose deserves to have parents who don't resent her very existence."

-o0o-

Hermione met Ron at the bottom of the stairs down to the beach. She could see Harry and Tim up on the balcony both with guns clearly visible in their hands.

"Do you really think they'd shoot me?" Ron asked.

"Yeah I do. Harry was absolutely furious with the number of memory charms and personality altering spells that the healer had to remove. Percy and Ginny have been memory charming me for years," Hermione said seriously. "And Tim wouldn't care if this works or not so long as we don't harm Harry. He'd kill both of us in a heartbeat to prevent it. He wants Harry to leave England forever and forget all about us."

"So where's this rune circle then. Let's get this over with," Ron replied resignedly.

She led him to the edge of the circle and dropped her robe leaving her naked in the moonlight.

"Hermione!" Ron exclaimed trying to pull her behind him so Harry and Tim couldn't see her body.

"You need to take yours off too. You can't take things into the rune circle" Hermione said blushing.

"Bloody hell!" Ron said hesitating.

"Everything all right down there?" Hadrian called after five minutes. He stood at the balcony railing, gun pointed in their direction.

Ron paled and removed his robe. "Walk exactly in my path. Do not step on any of the runes" Hermione ordered.

Ron followed her. "How do we do this?" He asked.

"Kneel in the centre of the circle and sit back on your feet and I'll sit in your lap. I don't fancy lying on the sand"

"But they'll see you" Ron protested.

"I'd rather be seen than risk getting sand where sand is never supposed to go" Hermione retorted.

The sand was actually quite hard from the spell Hadrian had used to prepare it before drawing the rune circle but they'd been unable to use the repelling charm Tim and Hadrian used to protect themselves from sand in unmentionable places when they made love on the beach, for fear the magic would interact with the ritual.

Hermione settled onto his shaft. "Hold still for a minute then move very slowly. We need to say all the vows before you can come" she ordered.

"Hermione you're killing me" Ron complained.

"You don't want Harry and Tim to think you don't have the stamina to do this do you. Neither of them mentioned having any trouble with it" Hermione said nastily.

It had the desired effect, Ron's anger took over and he gained the control he needed.

"I vow to forsake all others for you" Hermione started.

"I vow to be faithful to you in thought and in word and in deed" Ron replied.

"I vow to listen to you and respect your opinions" Hermione vowed

"I vow to listen to you and respect your opinions" Ron repeated.

"I vow to obey your orders unless doing so would harm me or the children" Hermione vowed unwillingly. It still worked.

"I vow to only give you orders in an emergency or situation where it would put you or our children in imminent danger not to follow my orders" Ron said. He had to say it twice before the magic accepted the vow.

"I vow to try not to resent you for giving me orders," Hermione said frowning. She knew this vow would help their marriage but part of her still wanted to resent the fact that Ron could give her orders.

I vow to never give you any order that you should find humiliating," Ron said easily.

"I vow never to deliberately hurt you or my children through my actions or my words no matter how angry I am," Hermione's magic flashed brightly as she vowed.

"I vow never to deliberately hurt you or my children through my actions or my words no matter how angry I am," Ron's magic flashed brightly too.

"I vow to take the best care that I possibly can of my children," Hermione's magic flashed again bright but not quite as brightly as before.

"So far so good," Tim said.

"Yeah but they were the easy ones," Hadrian replied.

"I vow to let you choose when and if you have more children without trying to influence your decision," Ron said grudgingly, he tried hard to make his magic think he wanted this even though he was worried Hermione would never agree to have another child and he desperately wanted a son.

"I vow not to let my pride or my desire for knowledge be more important to me than you and our children," Hermione said.

"I vow not to let my pride be more important to me than you and our children," Ron vowed easily enough, he lacked the insight into how many of his current choices were influenced by his pride.

"I vow to always try to cook the best meal I can in the circumstances and never to deliberately destroy your food" Hermione said making Hadrian and Tim smirk.

"I don't know what concerns me more, the idea that Hermione has been deliberately ruining the meals she cooks him or the fact that it's important enough to Ron to make her vow to stop doing it" Tim said.

"I vow to never lie to you," Ron said. The magic flashed brightly.

"I vow to always let my children know how much I love them," Hermione vowed.

"I vow to always let my children know how much I love them," Ron repeated.

"I vow to make an honest attempt to include regular sexual intimacy in our lives," Hermione vowed slightly unwillingly. She was careful to concentrate on meaning it.

"I vow never to force or order you to have sexual intercourse" Ron vowed, the glow this time was very faint and Hermione frowned while Ron held his breath praying that Harry and Tim had seen it.

"I vow to try to enjoy sexual relations with you," Hermione vowed. Again, the glow was incredibly faint, this time causing the watchers to frown. "It's like she doesn't want their marriage to succeed" Tim commented.

"She's been with Ron since she was seventeen and never had more than one other date when she was fourteen. If he's never managed to get her off then she's never orgasmed during sex," Hadrian said bluntly.

"In fact, if he hasn't managed to get her revved up and ready, then it's never been better than mildly uncomfortable" Tim realised. "It's not that she doesn't want to enjoy it, she truly doesn't believe it's possible. Of course, they could just be sexually incompatible."

"Yeah the whole no sex before marriage doesn't really allow for ensuring that" Hadrian said,

The two watchers on the balcony chuckled as Ron replied. "I vow to make sure you orgasm before I do every time we have intercourse."

"I thought for sure he'd have realised that if Hermione only vowed to try to enjoy sex he could vow to try to get her off first," Tim said.

"Yeah! But Hermione was pretty insistent that he say it exactly as he did," Hadrian replied. "I would have accepted him saying try but I don't think he realised that."

"We really need to send him some instruction manuals" Tim said laughing.

"I vow to act in the best interests of our family, particularly Rose Hermione and any other children we may have in the future," Hermione said eagerly. She hoped that this vow would counteract some of Ron's orders.

"I vow to act in the best interests of our family, particularly Rose Hermione and any other children we may have in the future," Ron repeated confidently. He truly believed this vow wouldn't affect his actions because he was already acting in the best interest of his family.

"I vow to honour you" Hermione vowed.

"I vow to try to understand the effects my orders have on you and to feel the emotional pain they cause" Ron recited. The flash of magic was much duller for this vow but it was enough.

"You and Hermione let him say try for that one?" Tim questioned.

"He's never been one to see what effect things have on anyone else. He's going to have enough trouble just trying. I was worried magic would punish him constantly if we hadn't given him the loophole" Hadrian replied.

"I vow to stop calling you Ronald and to call you by the name you prefer"

"I vow to stop calling you Mione or Herms or any other ridiculous shortening of your name, and to call you by the name you prefer."

These two made Tim laugh. "Did they really need vows to stop them from calling each other unwanted nicknames?" he asked.

"It would take a magically enforced vow to stop Tony from calling you McNicknames," Hadrian replied.

"Yeah but we're just friends," Tim argued.

"So were they for more than five years," Hadrian replied. "They fought like cat and dog for years, the habit of annoying each other is ingrained in both of them. That's one of the reasons I don't think this ritual is going to be enough to give them a peaceful happy existence together.

"I vow to consider Harry James Potter and his family as my family and to protect them like I would my own," Hermione vowed.

"I vow to consider Harry James Potter and his family as my family and to protect them like I would my own," Ron repeated.

Tim turned to Hadrian, staring. "Wow!" he breathed. "That was just wow! Did you know they were really going to go through with it?"

"The last vow?" Hadrian clarified. "I didn't know about it at all until I saw it on the parchment today. Hermione said it was because she wanted me to trust them again so she could rebuild our friendship."

"I can see that," Tim replied after a moment. "It's Ron agreeing to it that's shocked me."

"Yeah!" Hadrian agreed. "Hermione said he agreed willingly but I bet it caused a few arguments over the past week or so. It explains why he was so furious with me tonight."

A/N: Thank you to lilly-flower15, mithrilandtj, Martionmanswife, madnessdownunder2, Kaorilamb, Firehedgehog, Kourtney Uzu Yato, kimbarn30, Guest, aisa.32, xDarklightx, DarkRavie, serenityselena, Dilligas762, Reader Ethiriel, SpiritBlackPaw, Vladimir Mithrander, buterflypuss, julschristine975, MageVicky, Rori Potter, LunaSunFlowerLily, Maben00, lia (Guest), acherongoddess, Village-Mystic, royalcloud12, DS2010, Silvermane1, Selenity84, Fallow53 (Guest), Serpent91, FotoDi, KEZZ 1, southernbell195, StealingATimeLord, DollLovestoRead, start12345, endriene, readingandmaththatsall, lizabeth1917, Steph1215, missy45654, BubbleArc, thatoneguy21, ToSeeAWitch, FotoDi, Buttercup333, Annabeth Volturi, Thestallion75, DaichiKingOfSleep, kimberly226, Dragonknight-Flameis, dantexsin, nix-on-the-rise, Hikari Meilleure, m004540, RavenKnightroad, Harriverse, otaku3kagome, LumeAzure, black air mage, sbcmmbjgjlhb5, katiepar, Majestyfandom, sammy6669, ShayJanaos, Illyriel, Mags1st, Koru413, keitaya, MaltedMoogle, asvaldson, holymolymacadoo, Fandom Butterfly, StorySharer, Kagome-tinkerbell and HyperionDC for your support.


	58. Chapter 58

Chapter 58

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or NCIS or any of their characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do **NOT** give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

Tim and Hadrian and all three children were up early next morning. Rather than interrupt the ritual the elves had fed Rose with Rosie's formula which the baby seemed to tolerate well and she'd slept through the night and was ready to play when Hadrian went in to get his daughter.

Tim laughed as he came out with a baby in each arm both dressed in a sunbonnet and clothing he recognised as Rosie's. "Which one's ours?" he joked, Rose Weasley was of course several months older than Rosie, though not as much bigger, as she should be.

Hadrian laughed and handed over their daughter.

He duplicated the baby chair and handed each little girl a rusk to entertain them while they ate.

"Do you know if she's eating solids?" Tim asked.

"No idea. If she was a muggle she should be but who knows what wizards do. Should we try her with some stewed apples? See if her tongue knows what to do with them?" Hadrian suggested.

Tim laughed and one of the elves popped in with two baby bowls of pureed apple.

"Do you think they listen to all our private conversations too just so they can help if we mention wanting something?" Tim asked.

"I don't know. I'm trying not to think about it. I hope not but at least we know they can't tell anyone or use it against us," Hadrian replied pulling a face at been overheard during private and intimate moments.

"I guess so." Tim said. "I will warn you though, if one of them pops in the hand me the condoms or the lube you're not going to enjoy the affect it has on me."

"I'll be joining you in chasing them out, don't worry," Hadrian laughed shuddering.

They fed the two toddlers, Rose Weasley wasn't quite as good at eating yet as their Rosie, who had taken to solid food like a little champ, but it was obvious this wasn't her first attempt. And then cast sunscreen charms and took them down to the beach to clean up and let them play in the shallow rockpool that Hadrian had cast a slight warming charm on to mimic the heat it would be by mid afternoon.

The two little ones had a fun morning playing then gone for their morning nap and Tim had taken Teddy to the bigger rock pool for a swimming lesson by the time Ron and Hermione came running out of the house in a panic.

"Where's my baby?" Hermione asked holding her boobs as she ran.

"We put her down for her morning nap about half an hour ago. Tollie is with them," Hadrian said calmly.

"We couldn't find her in the house," Ron said.

"The nursery is warded for family access only," Hadrian explained. "It was easier for Tollie if they were all together and we didn't think you'd be able to wake up and look after overnight after the ritual. It really took it out of us."

"Why she down for her morning nap already?" Ron asked.

"It's half eleven. She had a bottle and some pureed apples and rice cereal for breakfast and we came out here and played in the sand and the water for a while before Tollie took her up to bed," Hadrian reported.

"So she isn't hungry. Do you think Tollie could find me a bottle to express into. I've got to get rid of some of this milk," Hermione said.

"Sure, go back to the house and call her," Hadrian said firing a sunscreen charm at Ron.

"Oi! What was that?" Ron asked alarmed.

"Sunscreen charm. The sun's much stronger here, you don't want to burn" Hadrian said casually.

"Oh. Thanks" Ron said. "Is your wife here?"

Hadrian decided to try to tell Ron about their relationship again. Hopefully the vows he'd made and the fact Hermione had confronted him about the truth about his breakup with Ginny and that they'd both been memory charmed about it would mean he accepted it better this time. Either way it was too annoying to keep lying about it.

"Ron I don't have a wife," Hadrian told him again, palming his wand ready to defend himself if necessary.

"But you said you'd done the ritual?" Ron said confused.

"I did it with Tim," Hadrian said.

"You did a sex ritual with a man? Why?"

"Because I love him" Hadrian said. "The way you loved Hermione when you got married." 

"That's so wrong it's disgusting!" Ron declared.

Hadrian shrugged. "I find the idea of having sex with a woman disgusting. I never would have even considered it without being overdosed with love potions," he said bluntly.

"Overdosed?" Ron asked.

"At a level that if she'd kept it up or increased it she could have killed me, it was already affecting my health and my magic," Hadrian said. "But I doubt that would have mattered much to her so long as I married her first."

"She loved you!" Ron exclaimed.

"No she didn't! If she loved me she would have cared that she was nearly killing me!" Hadrian retorted. "I would have said that she would have cared what I wanted but then again I believe you do love Hermione and you didn't seem to care what she wanted either. You and your sister seem to have a lot in common lately Ron and nothing good."

"You're comparing the problems Hermione and I are having to Ginny's behaviour?" Ron asked shocked.

"Yeah. You didn't break the law like Ginny did, and Hermione's life wasn't in danger yet, though you can see how tired and rundown she was, but you both ignored what Hermione and I wanted and needed because all you could see was your own selfish desires. The new vows are a start but you really need to want to change, to try to see Hermione's point of view instead of just your own."

Ron looked at his friend, truly shaken by his words. He totally forgot what Hadrian had told him about his relationship with Tim in the shock of what he'd said about Ginny treatment of himself and Ron's actions toward Hermione. For the first time, he truly thought about how he'd been treating Hermione from her point of view, how when he'd realised she had to do what he said he hadn't backed off and stopped telling her what he wanted her to do. How he ignored her tired and miserable face when he came home from work each day so long as dinner was on the table and not completely burnt.

Suddenly he could understand why Harry had interfered, and why he'd threatened to kill him to rescue Hermione. Because that is what his best mate had seen. That his wife honestly needed to be rescued from him and his family.

Harry could see Ron pale and start to look sick as he realised for the first time what he'd been doing to the woman he loved, and verbally backed off to give him time to think, lying back and enjoying the sunshine.

Hermione came back and Ron got up and ran over to kiss her. He talked earnestly for several minutes and from his body language Hadrian could tell he was honestly repentant as he apologised.

Hadrian hoped Hermione accepted his apology and gave him a second chance. Seeing that his presence wasn't wanted or needed he headed along the beach to find Tim and Teddy.

-o0o-

It was several hours before he saw Ron or Hermione again and he hoped that Ron's revelations had allowed him to share what he felt with Hermione and that she truly accepted his apology and gave him a real second chance.

Tim and Teddy had finished their lesson and were playing in the sand building a sand castle. Hadrian hit Teddy with his anti drowning charm and another sunscreen charm, then conjured a blanket and Tim happily came and flopped down beside him.

Hadrian laughed, and leaned over to kiss his husband lightly. Tim kissed back willingly but before they could deepen the kiss Teddy came up throwing himself at them and demanded to join the cuddle.

The men both laughed and hugged the little boy tickling him lightly until he squealed and dragged them back to his sandcastle to play.

After about an hour they went back to the house and put Teddy down for a nap. He'd pretty much grown out of napping during the day but the change in time zone along with the exertion of swimming meant that he needed one today. They put him to bed, played with Rosie and fed her again while she was awake, then Tim decided to stay in the nursery with her while Hadrian went looking for his friends to see if they needed anything. They weren't in the house or anywhere they could be seen from the balconies so he made himself, Tim and Teddy lunch and the three of them headed back to the beach leaving Rosie sleeping again under Tollie's watchful care.

They played ball in the shallows for a while before Tim decided to take Teddy for another swimming lesson. Hadrian went to join them when he saw Ron and Hermione approach from the other direction.

"We've eaten but lunch is laid out in the dining room, if you're hungry," he called.

"Thanks Harry" Ron called, immediately heading that way.

Hermione made a face but accompanied him so Hadrian headed back inside too.

"This is a great place to relax," Hermione said.

"Yeah, we love it. It helps Tim unwind to be out of phone contact with the rest of the world, unfortunately that's also the reason we can't come here that often," Hadrian replied. The truth was they could come anytime they wanted with the time tuner but he didn't want Ron or Hermione to know he had access to it.

"I feel like I could just stay here and lie on the beach for a month," Hermione said.

"That's the exhaustion talking Hermione. I wouldn't give you three days before you're bored and looking for something new to read or to learn," Hadrian said laughing. "Even looking after Rose wouldn't be enough for you."

"Isn't there a library here?" Hermione asked.

"Not in the house, there may be a small one in the town but for a research library you'd need to go across to the main island," Hadrian said.

"What else is there to do?" Ron asked.

"Well you can fly so long as you stay within the wards but there's nowhere you could put a quidditch pitch. There's always maintenance jobs to do if you're feeling like trying your hand as a builder or painter. There is quite a large potions garden, managed by the elves if you wanted to look at some rare local potions ingredients, Neville was quite fascinated with that. This part of the island the water's fairly flat, but the other side has some great surf beaches, or so I'm told. Tim and I are considering buying some windsurfers or a jet ski but we haven't decided yet. Tim's also thinking about a media room so we can show movies when Neville and Hannah come next year," Hadrian said.

"Why would they come here?" Ron asked.

"Neville is a good friend. We invited him this summer for a week's holiday with his family, Hannah's a little closed minded about certain things but she wasn't rude about it, and Teddy and Franklin had a ball together in spite of the age difference. We do want him to grow up with some wizarding friends" Hadrian semi-explained, not mentioning his campaign to use gossip to bring the British wizarding world out of the Victorian era and catch them up with the rest of the world, and smash the isolationism that seemed to breed dark lords every 50 years or so.

"You didn't invite us," Ron said affronted.

"You and Hermione weren't in a position to have a couple of weeks off for an international holiday, and I wasn't ready to give away my location merely to socialise. You wouldn't have agreed to keep my location secret from your family and wouldn't have been able to keep it from the twins even if you wanted to. But your entire family gave me a hard time due to Ginny's lies Ron and I am in no hurry to see most of them anytime soon," Hadrian said.

"You don't trust them?" Ron said.

"Would you in my position?" Hadrian retorted. "I could easily beat any one or even two of your brothers but I couldn't beat all five at once if they ambushed me."

Ron flushed, he had to admit that he wouldn't. He wasn't sure how many of his brothers still believed Ginny's lies about Harry's treatment of her and the end of their engagement. He knew his mother was still furious every time Harry's name came up. In fact, she blamed Harry for Ginny's recent wild behaviour, claiming that it was a broken heart that led to her daughter making so many foolish decisions. Not to mention the lack of job opportunities because people hadn't wanted to upset 'their saviour' by supporting his ex-fiancé, particularly when their split became so public and acrimonious.

"Are you going to spell us to stop me telling them now?" Ron asked.

"Do I need to?" Hadrian asked.

"Yeah I think you do. Hermione told me about the compulsion spells on her and though they've been removed she still has no idea what they did, I'm not sure that my family would let me keep the location secret if they thought it was your home," Ron admitted, his eyes troubled.

Hadrian nodded glad that his friend could admit that his family couldn't be trusted when it came to Harry Potter.

"Your Rose is a little darling," Hadrian said when the silence had dragged on almost to the point being more uncomfortable than the previous conversation.

"She is" Ron agreed. "Though I have to admit I have no idea how Mum and Dad coped with seven."

"You should tell Hermione that. I think she'd be very relieved," Hadrian said grinning.

"Don't you want to be a dad?" Ron asked.

"I am a dad. I have Teddy" Hadrian replied.

"It's not the same as one of your own" Ron said.

"Yes it is, I love him just as much as I will love any child" Hadrian argued.

"You can't know that." Ron argued.

"I do know that Ron, I love Teddy just the same as I love my daughter," Hadrian said calmly.

"You have a daughter? She's yours, really yours?" Ron asked surprised.

"Of course she is," Hadrian said annoyed. "Remember the curse. I couldn't have a child with a woman, but I can with a wizard."

"How did you convince Tim to let a wizard knock you up?" Ron asked disgusted.

"I didn't. Tim is a wizard. His magic has been bound so he can't actively use it but he still has enough magic to father a witch," Hadrian growled and Ron decided to change the subject not wanting to think about Harry and Tim being intimate. Instead he brought up something else that had been annoying him about Harry's 'friend'.

"Where is Tim this morning? You finally decided that it's safe to be on your own with us?" Ron asked.

"Well the risks are a lot lower this morning. Attacking me to drive me away now won't do you any good. You've made your vows now, and you seem to have calmed down and come to terms with that." Hadrian replied. "Besides the wards here won't let you attack me and I'm the only one who can make a portkey out of here," Hadrian replied.

"Yeah but where is he, did you send him home?" Ron pressed.

"Of course not! He's my husband, not my servant. He's over in the rockpools teaching Teddy to swim," Hadrian said mildly.

"You trust him with Teddy?" Ron asked frowning.

"Probably more than Hermione trusts you with her daughter," Hadrian said indignantly. "He's a great father."

"He has kids? Does their mother know about you?" Ron asked disgusted.

"I was referring to Teddy and our daughter," Hadrian replied, rolling his eyes irritatedly. "I'm no home wrecker Ron."

"Seriously, Remus and Tonks must be rolling in their graves. You should give him to us. Hermione's his godmother" Ron said.

"Why would I want to do that?" Hadrian asked crossly. "He's better off with us. Hermione barely had time to look after Rose with all the potions she has to brew each day, and there's no decent kindergarten programs in the British wizarding world."

"He should live in a normal family," Ron declared.

"Tim and I are a real family!" Hadrian all but yelled getting up to walk away.

"You know what I mean a normal family with a Mum," Ron said, catching his arm. "I know you grew up without knowing your Mum but don't you want Teddy to have the things you didn't?"

"I grew up in a home without love. Always knowing that my cousin was wanted and I wasn't. Teddy knows that he is loved by both of us just as much as our Rosie, every minute of the day. That's more than you could promise. Andi knew about Tim when she gave me custody. She didn't have a problem with it and she didn't think her daughter or Remus would have either. They spent a lot more time than you in the nonmagical world so their views weren't so isolated and Remus in particular hated bigotry in any form," Hadrian said. "Besides, Teddy didn't even know you or Hermione when he was living with Andi, neither of you ever visited him. Giving him to you would have been the same as leaving him with total strangers, it would've been cruel. Anyway, this isn't a choice you or I or anyone can make. I'm not Teddy's godfather anymore. I'm his father. He is my firstborn son. Tim and I blood adopted him with Andi's blessing, so he could be the Black heir."

"So he isn't Remus and Tonks' son anymore?" Ron asked shocked.

"He still is, there are two different types of blood adoption. The first one replaces the original parent which is more common, and the one we used which adds extra parents. A Gringotts test would tell you Teddy has four parents."

"But it isn't right for him to grow up thinking two guys being together is normal" Ron argued.

"Teddy has lots of friends with a mum and dad, or mum and stepdad and dad and stepmum, and even a friend with two mums. In the world we live in, all these families are considered normal," Hadrian retorted. "You know in the nonmagical world, homosexuality is about as accepted as a pureblood marrying a muggleborn. Not everyone accepts it but most decent people are either okay with it or keep their opinions to themselves because they know bigotry is wrong, very few people would even think of taking it out on the children. Being the son of a known werewolf, Teddy would face far more hatred and prejudice living in London with you."

Hermione re-joined them, "What are you arguing about Ron, I don't have time to take over the care of a four year old. I can barely cope with Rose and my work most of the time. And Harry's right, even when Andi took him out as a baby some of the shops on the Alley didn't want to let him in. He's better off wherever Harry's living, where people don't know that his biological father was a werewolf."

"He's your godson," Ron protested.

"No he isn't Ron. Harry gave him new godparents when he adopted him. He said Teddy deserved to have godparents who were prepared to make the effort to be in his life, and I hate to admit it but Harry was right, I didn't deserve to be Teddy's godmother," Hermione said sadly. "Where is Teddy? I'd like to see him. I promise to try not to upset him," Hermione asked.

"They're over in the rockpools, Tim is teaching him to swim. You can see him when they get back but be prepared for him not to know who you are," Hadrian replied.

Ron turned to Hermione. "Did you know Harry and Tim are married? To each other?"

"Yeah I did Ron. I also knew that if I told you before we did the ceremony that you wouldn't have agreed to do the ceremony and forbid me from seeing him," Hermione said bluntly. "I can see how much they truly care for each other and treat each other as equals. I wish our marriage was even half as good as theirs, and if you try to forbid me from seeing Harry over this I will make you regret it for the rest of your life."

The look in her eyes made Harry shiver and be very glad she had never directed it at him.

"But don't you think…" Ron began.

"No I don't think there is anything wrong with Harry loving a man. I'm just glad he found someone who honestly loves him and doesn't care about all that boy-who-lived rubbish," Hermione interrupted him before he could finish speaking, a habit that she'd developed since their marriage knowing that the only way to stop herself from having to do whatever he said was to stop him before he said it.

"Your portkey is ready whenever you want it," Hadrian said stiffly. "For Hermione's sake please let her stay and visit with Teddy. Tell Tim I'm on the upstairs balcony." He got up and walked back towards the house.

Hermione got up and ran after him. "Harry wait!"

Harry slowed down and Hermione fell into step beside him. "Show me the way down to the rockpools," she asked.

"Ron's going to be angry with you," Hadrian said. "Are you sure you want to start making more trouble in your marriage again already?"

"You are my best friend. My family and Ron vowed to treat you as family too. He'll come 'round," Hermione said confidently.

"In his family, apparently it's okay to memory charm each other and to treat spouses they don't like with constant criticism and name-calling," Hadrian reminded her.

"I won't let him do that to you," Hermione promised him.

"I'm not worried about the memory charm; my head of house ring protects me from it, and apparently, memory charms don't work very well on people who can throw of the imperious curse. But I've been called enough names by so called family. I won't tolerate it again," Hadrian said fiercely.

"I'll make sure he knows that Harry. But he wasn't calling you names. I don't mean to make excuses for him but he's honestly never seen a gay man before you and Tim. He needs time to come to wrap his head around it. You know Ron, he reacts and explodes before he calms down and thinks about it," Hermione tried to reassure her friend, that he hadn't lost his former best mate.

"Of course he's seen gay men, four percent of the population is gay Hermione, that holds true for muggle and wizard alike, that's one or two in every Hogwarts class. The others are probably just deep in hiding because it isn't acceptable in the British wizarding world. Or if they're muggleborn they probably returned to the non-magical world or left the country," Hadrian said practically. "In fact, I wouldn't bet my fortune that Charlie isn't gay, we've never met or even heard Molly talk about him having a girlfriend, and it would explain why he's so reluctant to live in Britain."

"Very well then, you and Tim are the only people he knows that openly identify as anything other than straight," Hermione corrected, rolling her eyes.

"I'm not the kid I used to be Hermione, that would forgive him everything because he was my first friend. I have plenty of friends who accept who I am. Neville came to our wedding, you know. I could see he was shocked when he met Tim instead of a woman he was expecting, but he supported me right from the start. I no longer need to put up with poor friends because I'm scared of being alone and friendless. If he wants me to consider him my friend he needs to earn it."

"I understand Harry," Hermione said hugging him.

They arrived at the rock pool where Tim was throwing Teddy up into the air and letting him splash into the water and swim his way back to the surface.

"Oh he's grown so much," Hermione gushed.

"Yeah kids do that, before you know it Rose and Rosie are going to be that big. I go on assignment and sometimes I'm only away three or four days and they've both grown while I was away," Hadrian said laughing ruefully.

Tim caught sight of them and headed towards the edge of the pool handing Teddy up to Hadrian before hoisting himself out. Hadrian wrapped a towel around Teddy and handed the other to Tim. Hermione had to admit that Tim was very fit in his swim suit.

"Hey Teddy, this is my friend Hermione, can you say hello?" Hadrian asked.

"Hello!" Teddy said cheerfully. "You swim too?"

"No, I didn't bring a swim suit," Hermione replied.

"You could easily transfigure one if you like," Hadrian said. "Tim and I are staying here another night so you have plenty of time."

"He doesn't even sound British," Hermione said.

"That's not a bad thing. British witches and wizards aren't always well accepted in the rest of the world. They tend to think of is as backwards barmy troublemakers," Hadrian said laughing ruefully.

"I'm hungry Daddy" Teddy said.

"Me too. Let's go get a snack" Tim said enthusiastically and they began walking towards the house.

"Daddy?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah he was happy calling us Harry or Hades and Tim and pretty much ignored that we were calling ourselves Daddy and Papa to Rosie until he started school then he wanted to know why he didn't have a mummy and daddy like everyone else. So we explained about the adoption and he decided he wanted to call us both Daddy. That got confusing so we suggested that Tim be Daddy and I'd be Papa like we're trying to teach Rosie," Hadrian explained. "It's still a bit new so he alternates between us a little, but we're trying to encourage him to settle on one name for each of us. That's why even though I think he was talking to me, Tim answered him because he said Daddy."

Halfway to the house he squirmed to be put down and ran on ahead a little. Hadrian whipped out his want and cast a spell. "Anti-drowning charm. We take it off while he's in the water with us so he can learn to swim properly," he explained.

Hermione smiled. "He seems very well adjusted."

"He can be a little terror when he wants to be, but he's a good kid in general. He loves school and he's made some nice friends," Hadrian replied.

"You don't have to convince me Harry, I think you're doing a great job with him," Hermione said. "I can't fault your commitment if you were portkeying internationally to visit him every week. I couldn't do it."

"I'd say you get used to it but I don't know that you do, it seemed to get harder and harder, though maybe that was because I didn't know I was pregnant for the last few months," Hadrian said laughing.

"I feel sick just thinking of going through that once while I was pregnant let alone making a return trip each week," Hermione said shuddering.

-o0o-

"Why can't you see that it's wrong for two men to be together?" Ron asked.

"Why can't you see that it's wrong for you to turn your back on your best friend again?" Hermione shouted back. "The muggle world accepted same sex relationships decades ago, it's just one more way that the wizarding world is stuck in the Victorian era."

"Only Britain and small parts of pureblood Europe" Hadrian corrected her. "Just like there are still some Muslim countries in the muggle world that don't accept homosexuality or equal rights for women."

"You're comparing the British Wizarding World with the Taliban?" Hermione asked shocked.

"It isn't a bad analogy," Tim said joining them. "Millions of Muslims live in peace with various degrees of including the western culture into their lives and suffer a lot of prejudice and persecution because of a few extremists who want to kill off the rest of the world for not believing what they do."

A/N: Thank you to jayswing96, lilly-flower15, Kourtney Uzu Yato, charm13insomnia, lia (Guest), serenityselena, KEZZ 1, MageVicky, DarkRavie, xDarklightx, julschristine975, Firehedgehog, Lientjuhh, Fallow53 (Guest), buterflypuss, .9, Guest, famnmnable, Reader Ethiriel, Rori Potter, madnessdownunder2, DS2010, , sandipi, Maben00, Guest, acherongoddess, Guest, dobbys-stinger, ElphieTMoLM, yngoldfogee (Guest), Village-Mystic, kimbarn30, Serpent91, hellkiss, Sakya, J.F.C, jilumasam, mumimeanjudy, farawisa, imokit, Clow Angel, Melikalilly, Gime'SS, Locket1, Melikalilly, PotterB2utyElf, Locket1, Fandommember, DS2010, lbrit, lilnudger82, Kaorilamb, Love life and Have fun, Carl-the-strange, Julia Ba, natztash, Reader (Guest), Coru 32, lillisa34, gabrieljuarezl, whitebuffalowmn, 19811945, PotterSnapeValdezDiAngelo, CKSO, Cynderet, NimboCumulus, Copykat2, Qryste, renee116, archfiendswordsmen, ANIMELOVER69, narutohinatalover4ev, SSGRet, BladeAzeles, Map5543, westcoastseabee, S.E.X243, lshbrtn85, Chrystal06, addicted-to-the-fic, PotterSnapeValdezDiAngelo, TOP1, myriad91, BookMage93, darkwaterwings, Jutsu Dream, Dalea, Brighteyees, Concrete63, Dea Inferno, Puzzlee, Serenade Sailing, klinde6364, brucec22180, OrchidDes, rina90, Mathew Potter Malfoy, sometimesnarryfan, manelin, BeautifulLotus, ans90jas10, angelica1998, plantpot1972, DanniiGirl, Iphigelina, CharlotteDaBookworm, RagingTempest1999, poppet15, Lizzie-Lizzard, bmelv1, laurie199609, Dream and Hope, Harry' , Airforce1990, Ilovejeremy, dreemslayer, xRawrzzxDx, ljaynie0511, Rinewell, moongirljc, jennifersallymorgan, Lunary, Nancyarev, cawcrazy, FragmentsOfStardust, lelacool, Ayumi kaya, Chuffers244, unforgiven666, ZoeW2000, dandara1, kessM, Rosa Scarsz Cruz, LeeLa13, Dark Mind and Saddened Soul, Guardian of Sarcasm, Katilya, TheReader42, Mystalis, hpawsome, TamAnTam, dustypiffle, Nsobe, Gbstermite, Aurora Rising, Teon, Millsannemarie59, MoonlitCries, EmeraldDagger, Panic At It's Best, onyiiihearahu1992, lamalalleglad, Firelight rose, Biancahurst, blah95halb, meytarah, amokima, old enough to no better, The Love Dragon, BookWoorm, Camieko, tammygirl02, Ieahleen, CD87, darkwaterwings, Gibberint Dark, loretta537, bookwyrm95, nturfitt, Begumebilli, Hobbs, toothlessmuse, mrnobodie, Carey Ann Lupin, VengenceShadowWolf, brighteyes343, jenk5211997, Open-Minded ME, AmorteliaRayne3, Silvern Shine, Katsav, Malicia88, littlerostte, Rogue Shadow Hunter, Amberile, SupahJapah, Malicia88, iamwrll, varjojumalatar, deckman1234, Kamaliane, leylinjan, keyq, , crazepainter, bubbles1964, faneka, Angelslight20, my3angels24319, Alyce of the Togas and WolfWinks for your support.

A/N2: Sorry about the delay I was having trouble sorting this chapter out,

A/N3: 'reader (guest)' said in their review that they were told Australia wouldn't have access to anymore.

I'm not having that much trouble accessing the site, though it does crash a lot more frequently than it used to though a lot of free wifi spots block it, and I've not heard from anyone else that they are going to cut it, but if I do then I will move to Archive of Our Own. So if I disappear on here, that's where I'll be.


	59. Chapter 59

Chapter 59

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or NCIS or any of their characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do **NOT** give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

After their altercation, Hadrian didn't want to spend more time with Ron for a while, Ron had disappeared somewhere anyway and knowing that the wards wouldn't let him harm anyone, they let him be.

Hadrian and Hermione both transfigured swimsuits and went into the water. Hadrian was amused to see Hermione's swim suit was nearly as modest has Hannah's had been while dry but without the ugly ruffles looked more like the suits the Olympic swimmers wore. They swam with Teddy for a while, Hadrian and Tim pulling back as the little boy became more comfortable with Hermione, and letting her spend some time with him while they sat on the side of the rock pool arms about each other quietly conversing about potential renovations to the house, and adding more activities to do.

Seeing Ron approaching in the distance Hadrian had warned Hermione they were heading inside and told her to call Tollie if she wanted any help with Teddy, then withdrawn behind the family wards for most of the rest of the day to avoid further arguments.

Tollie popped down and plonked their daughter Rose into Ron's arms before he could start shouting.

Hadrian and Tim took the opportunity to catch up with business, meeting with the elf who managed the potion's ingredient supply business and the elf Quincy had left in charge of maintaining and upgrading the house, completing his duties as landowner before a couple of hours working on his correspondence from Neville, Kingsley and the goblins. He had emerged briefly to eat dinner but it was a tense affair with neither Hadrian nor Ron willing to bring up their earlier arguments.

Teddy was also at dinner and his perfect manners, a real contrast to Ron's nieces and nephews, delighted Hermione but was one further wedge in Ron and Harry's friendship from Ron's point of view. Ron was angry that Harry was bringing up his son with what he thought of as pureblood airs and graces. All in all dinner hadn't been successful and Hermione had actually silenced Ron at one stage when he went to say something that she suspected would be very distasteful from the look on his face.

"No, there are children present and I don't trust you to speak appropriately" Hermione hissed quietly, able to ignore the unspoken order when he gestured angrily for her to remove it. He went to rise and Hermione stuck him to his seat before she could find out if he meant to threaten someone or merely to storm out.

Hadrian had given Hermione the one way portkey that would take them home and told her that he'd either see her at breakfast if her husband was prepared to be civil or would visit her while he was at work sometime in the next month or two. He and Tim retired early to avoid the unpleasantness and neither Tim nor Hadrian were sure whether they hoped to other couple would leave that night or not.

-o0o-

The next morning found Ron and Hermione in the dining room on their own, Ron blushed and scowled at the thought of Harry having a morning lay in with Tim. 'It was almost enough to put you off eating' he thought to himself as he virtually inhaled his extra-large breakfast.

Tim and Hadrian came in laughing at something one of them had just said. They'd obviously been down on the beach with wet swimsuits.

"Where are the children?" Hermione asked.

"Tollie could you bring the children down" Hadrian called out.

"They's had breakfasts Master Hadrian" Tollie said arriving with a little girl in each arm and Teddy running in front of her "She's fed and clean and wants her Papa" the elf said handing her over to Hadrian.

"Thanks Tollie," Hadrian said smiling at the conscientious little nanny. "What have they been doing this morning?"

"Babies be playings with hanging toys and Master Teddy be helpings make cakes for lunch" Tollie replied.

"Who's that?" Ron asked.

"This is Tim's and my daughter, Rosie. We named her before we heard what you named your daughter, so her name is just a coincidence."

"Wow she really does look like the two of you!" Ron exclaimed taking a good look at the baby.

"Of course she does, she's our daughter. Why are you surprised by that?" Tim said crossly.

"I don't know, it's just not natural" Ron said obnoxiously.

"What you expected her to have horns and a tail?" Hadrian asked tersely.

Ron recognised the warning signs that Harry was about to lose his temper and backpedalled. "No, she's a pretty baby. She's smaller than our Rose though, is she healthy?"

"Yes she's perfectly healthy. She's the perfect length and weight for her age. Why wouldn't she be, she's a perfectly normal baby," Hadrian growled.

Tim laid his hand on Hadrian's shoulder to calm him. He didn't particularly care how badly Hades verbally flayed Ron but he could feel his magic moving under his skin and the children were present.

"I was just asking, because it really isn't normal for men to have babies" Ron said.

"Ron the spell that Davis hit me with exists for a reason. St Mungo's treated it like I was cursed only because I was attacked with it without pain relieving potions and without my consent," Hadrian said.

"There are healers in America who specialise in male pregnancies, and I have met other wizards who have used it to have children with their male partners and nobody thinks any less of the one that chooses to bear the children. I would think with the fertility problems occurring among British pureblood wizards that anything that helped raise the birth rate would be embraced, not condemned."

"Homosexuality really is considered normal in the muggle world Ron, studies have shown that it's pretty much genetic just like some people are left handed," Hermione said.

"What?" Ron asked.

"Hermione is saying that I was born to grow up to be attracted to men, just like you are naturally attracted to women. Just like you have red hair and blue eyes and I have black hair and green eyes. It's not something I can really choose. To dumb it down for you genetics is the word they use to describe how people inherit some things from one parent and some from the other," Hadrian said.

"So you really couldn't have loved Ginny without the potions she was feeding you?" Ron asked.

"If she hadn't tried to potion me I could and would have loved her like a sister, the way I love Hermione, but I would never in a million years have wanted to kiss her, let alone marry her. Even if I wasn't attracted to wizards, she looks too much like my Mum. It's creepy," Harry declared, glad his friend seemed to be finally understanding what his sister had done to him. It still remained to see if Ron would accept his marriage to Tim but Hadrian was done with placating his friend, either Ron accepted him and they could remain friends or he didn't and they wouldn't.

"But your Dad wasn't gay!" Ron stated with certainty.

"How do you know? You never met him, and I don't remember him. My father was raised to be a British pureblood, the last member of a most ancient and most honourable family, and the spell that allows me to have children hadn't been invented yet. Gay or not he would have married and sired an heir to do his duty," Hadrian said bluntly.

"If he'd married for duty he would have married a pureblood," Ron retorted.

"Not necessarily, nobody ever said the Potters bought into the bigotry of the purebloods so you have no reason to assume that my father was a pureblood bigot. Did you know that my mother, grandmother and great grandmother were all considered the brightest witch of their generation. By that Potter tradition, I should have married Hermione. Every Potter bride all the way back to Rowena Ravenclaw was considered above average intelligence," Hadrian replied. "That's actually one tradition I did sort of keep. Tim is every bit as intelligent as Hermione, I think they'd get along really well if you give them the chance."

"You're the last member of two most ancient and most noble families Harry. Why did you abandon your duty?" Ron asked. "You had to have known that your father would have wanted you to sire an heir."

"Hadrian saved the bloody world! Isn't that enough doing his duty for you? He doesn't owe you or anyone else in the wizarding world a damn thing!" Tim yelled.

"The spell prevents me from impregnating a witch, I needed to marry a wizard to do my duty as you see it," Hadrian said smirking and putting a hand on Tim's shoulder to encourage him to calm down.

"And as you can see I have already fathered one heir."

Ron looked at the baby, "But she's got to be a lot younger than our Rose, how come you named her Rose too" he said frowning.

"Yes she is, in fact the age difference is more than it seems because your Rose is small for her age, but I couldn't apparate or portkey during the latter half of my pregnancy, and I wasn't able to work so Clancy couldn't send me to England in that time so I didn't see you, and you and Hermione didn't answer my letters or write and tell me about your baby. I didn't find out her name until Hannah told me when she and Neville came to visit," Hadrian replied dryly, letting his friend know exactly who was to blame for the lack of communication that led to both children having the same name.

Ron flushed, clearly getting the message that he'd been a terrible friend in the last couple of years. Hermione had been better until she was so busy with the baby and trying to make potions for the twins to make ends meet and that was his fault too.

"How old is she?" Ron asked.

"Six months" Hadrian said smiling at the baby girl.

"Did you really get pregnant and carry her?" Ron asked shocked.

"Yes I think Tim has some photos of me pregnant without a glamour or bump hiding clothing somewhere if you want the proof," Hadrian said smiling.

"What was it like? Would you do it again?" Ron asked.

"I'd imagine it was a lot like what Hermione went through, morning sickness tiredness and fatigue at the start, and backache and swollen feet towards the end," Hadrian said dryly.

"You didn't say if you would do it again," Ron pointed out curiously.

"I'll have to unless I want bloody Draco Malfoy or his son to become the heir of Slytherin. But yeah, Tim and I do want more children, though we want to wait a couple of years," Hadrian replied.

"They'll cause a riot at Hogwarts having two Roses in Gryffindor in the same dorm," Ron said.

"Rosie wasn't born in Britain, she won't receive a Hogwarts letter, she will probably go to Salem with Teddy," Hadrian said mildly.

"The Potters have always gone to Hogwarts" Ron argued. "You would get a letter if you told them you were interested."

"Perhaps we would, but not all of the Potters went to Hogwarts Ron, the American branch of the Potter family helped to found Salem," Hadrian replied.

"Wouldn't that be like a Gryffindor attending Hogwarts?" Hermione asked. "That's hardly a way to avoid your fame."

"No there were a dozen or more families involved in founding the school, they don't have a house named after them. And this is America. The land where your achievements are more important than your ancestors. Besides we could always enrol her as Rosie McGee if we thought there'd be an issue," Hadrian said.

"Doesn't she have to be a Potter to inherit as Head of House Potter?" Hermione asked.

"She can't be Head of House, she's a girl!" Ron corrected his wife automatically.

Hermione glared at him and Hadrian interrupted before she could erupt.

"Actually, she can. The house of Potter allows for a female Head of House, it also allows for the current Head of House to choose their heir from any of their descendants though nobody before me has chosen a girl if they have a son or grandson old enough to manage the House. And no Hermione, she would be encouraged to accept the name Potter when she becomes Head of House Potter but she can use any of her legal names, just as I don't normally use all my names all the time."

"Is there a lot to manage?" Hermione asked, successfully diverted.

"Not so much at the moment because the House is just me and Rosie, and I have a proxy who sits on the Wizengamot for me. He contacts me about upcoming petitions and votes my seats. The goblins and the elves manage most of my investments. Traditionally the Head of House had the final say in any betrothal agreements, or adoptions. Members of the house were expected to support the Head of House's political agenda."

"What he's not telling you is that he spends hours between each meeting reading the petitions and discussing them with his proxy and other people he trusts before making the decision on how he wants his houses to vote," Tim said.

"Who is your proxy?" Hermione asked curiously.

"Neville" Hadrian said. "I trust him to keep me fully informed and even when he disagrees with me he votes his own votes his way and mine against himself. Not that it happens often."

"That's why you invited him for a holiday here," Hermione said.

"It was a holiday Hermione, not a strategy meeting," Hadrian replied, guiltily.

"So Neville's your best mate now?" Ron asked resentfully.

"Neville's family aren't trying to attack me, he's never called me a liar or pinched me in the face, he accepts my marriage, and he doesn't stop writing to me for years," Hadrian replied. "Neville's friendship is easy and true. You haven't acted like a best mate in years so why would you be upset that you're no longer my best mate."

Hermione put her hand over Ron's mouth, "Don't make me Silencio you again. Stop and think what you're saying. You destroyed your friendship with Harry, you should be grateful that Neville remained friends and supported him, when you wouldn't. I am."

"What are you planning on doing today?" Hadrian asked Hermione.

"If it's okay with you I wanted to spend some more time out on the beach with Teddy before we go home," Hermione replied.

"It's fine with me," Hadrian replied smiling at her. "We were just going to lounge around anyway, all the portkeying back and forth to Britain is really tiring and we both could use a couple of lazy days."

Hermione smiled at her oldest friend. "Thanks for going to so much effort to help me," she said gratefully.

-o0o-

"Do you think the vows are affecting their behaviour?" Tim asked, once they were alone again.

"They are using each other's preferred names and I haven't heard Ron order Hermione to do anything since the ritual, of course that's partly because Hermione interrupts him or prevents him from speaking when she thinks he's about to give her an order."

Tim laughed, "Yeah I noticed that. It's quite a good strategy."

"Ron was much more accepting of our relationship too" Hadrian said.

"He has argued against it every time it's come up" Tim protested.

"Yeah but he hasn't left or tried to hex or hit me, he's acting more like he did when he had falling out with his brothers," Hadrian explained.

"Treating you like your family" Tim realised. "That vow worked."

"Yeah, it's helped today, but it won't really keep me safer if he knows where I'm living. The Weasleys are his family too," Hadrian said, sighing. "In fact, it might make him more likely to tell them what I've been doing lately."

"Would that be a bad thing, if the Weasleys knew you were married they might be more inclined to back off, since there's no point trying to make you feel guilty for not marrying Ginny and take her back?" Tim asked. "Or you could ask him and Hermione to tell them you're married and have a child. It would be quite natural for him to tell the story of the two Roses."

Hadrian laughed, "Yeah that's a good idea, they can't tell them where we live anyway and while Hermione knows we're in Hawaii Ron and most of the Weasleys wouldn't have the first idea where or what Hawaii is, and the wards would protect us from invasion."

Tim and Hadrian took advantage of the fact that Ron and Hermione had Teddy to give their daughter a little more undivided attention, they went to one of the fairly small rock pools that for some reason didn't have any plants or sea creatures and cast warming charms so Tim could begin to teach the baby to swim. It wasn't big enough for two adults so Hadrian sat on the edge watching and calling encouragement as Rosie learnt to hold her breath and to blow bubbles in the water. Once she'd had enough Hadrian carefully used an aquamenti charm to rinse all the salt water from her body, massaging in baby moisturiser to protect her skin from drying out and reapplying the sunscreen charm before dressing her and putting her into her pouch on her stomach so she could nap if she wanted to while they went for a walk.

"We've never been over to the other side of our property," Hadrian said.

"It's surf beach, it isn't really safe for children and beginner swimmers, and there's no shade ear the water. Other than the surf there's nothing over there that there isn't this side and it would be quite a long walk around the point even if there aren't rocks there to prevent us walking that way. The forest's too dense to walk through with a baby and a toddler." Tim replied.

"Hmm," Hadrian agreed, thinking of other options to show Tim the rest of the property. Rosie started to fuss and they returned to the house to feed her, calling to the others to bring Teddy up for a snack too since he'd had breakfast so early.

Of course, Ron was interested in a snack too even though he'd not long finished breakfast but was disappointed by the fruit and vegetables on offer. "Teddy has an increased need for red meat and he really doesn't like cooked vegetables so we try to give as many as we can to him during the day instead," Tim said.

"Does he have any other side effects?" Hermione asked.

"He's a little unsettled during the full moon, always has been, even as a baby but it doesn't seem to be getting worse. We tried charming him to sleep but then he has nightmares so we tend to sit up with him and let him sleep during the day," Hadrian said. "It's a little more of a problem now he's in school."

"Do his teachers know?" Ron asked.

"He goes to a non-magical primary school Ron, his teachers can't know, and even if I keep him home the day after the full moon they will never suspect the reason," Hadrian said.

"How's that work? What about accidental magic? And isn't he a metamorphmagus like Tonks?" Hermione asked.

"Yes he is. He takes a potion to hold him in his base form whenever he's out in public, and you and I went to non-magical primary schools without too many issues, Hermione. We want him to have as normal an upbringing as possible and be comfortable in both worlds," Hadrian replied.

"So his friends are muggles?" Ron asked.

"Most of them. We have a couple of wizarding friends among the Aurors I work with but none have a son his age," Hadrian said casually.

"And you let them come to the house? How come they don't notice the magical things?" Ron asked.

"This isn't the house we live in most of the time, it's actually an old Potter property from back in the days they were a large extended family. Our regular home is almost totally non-magical outside of my private study which I keep locked," Hadrian replied.

"Why do you live in a muggle house? You always loved the burrow, and even Grimmauld place you did up to be magical," Ron asked.

"I loved the family atmosphere at the Burrow when I was a kid. Our house feels a lot like that except for the lack of chaos and mayhem, but Tim can't use a wand so we need electric lights and appliances, and too much magic upsets the electronics. Computers are a hobby of his, one of his degrees was in computer forensics, so I don't want to use enough magic to mess them up," Hadrian explained.

"Why wouldn't you live here? It's brilliant," Ron said enthusiastically.

"The house could use some decorating, but after what you did with Grimmauld place before you sold it I thought you enjoyed that sort of thing," Hermione added.

"I do enjoy decorating and the elves love renovating, they'd be happy to do it, It's the portkey to work that'd be the problem, we're about half way from Britain to where Tim and I live and work," Hadrian replied laughing. "Neither of us want to do that everyday and there's no friends for the children here either."

They had an early lunch, really it was so early that only Ron and the children were interested in eating much, before Ron, Hermione and Rose Weasley left by portkey.

Ron watched the interaction between Hadrian and Tim suspiciously during lunch, but had to admit he didn't see any behaviour he found off putting, or even anything that would've made him think the couple were more than good friends. Of course, the children were all present so he and Hermione weren't being affectionate towards each other either but he didn't think of that. The elves packed up the Weasley's clothes and things and they said goodbye to Hadrian and Tim in good spirits, Ron even shaking their hands and thanking him for fixing the problems he and Hermione had been having.

"They're not all automatically fixed Ron, you have to work at your relationship if you want it to be the best it can be," Hadrian reminded him.

Ron nodded but Hadrian wondered how much effort he'd put in to changing his behaviours once he was back in his own home and familiar routines. He guessed that Hermione wouldn't let things go all the way back to how they were before and he expected there'd be some fireworks as they settled into their new reality.

He put them out of his mind, determined to spend some time focussing on improving and enjoying his own marriage. Tim had been extremely patient and generous helping Hadrian with his friends and it was time to reward his husband for his efforts.

Tim and Hadrian planned to stay one more day to get over the stress of the visit, before returning to their regular life. Tollie popped home with the children to save them the stress of the portkey trip and Tim and Hadrian would use the time-turner to go back a day and be there when they got home, leaving them with twenty-four hours alone at the beach-house. They decided to explore the surf beach on the far side of their property. Casting sunscreen charms and disillusionment charms they stripped to their swim shorts and Tim climbed gingerly on the back of Hadrian's broom for the trip over the dense jungle. Holding onto Hadrian tightly Tim enjoyed the ride, and having his near naked husband virtually sitting in his lap, muscles rippling in his back as he flew. They landed and walked along the beach checking the edge of the wards. Tim amused by the fact that when one of them was outside the wards they could neither see nor hear the other inside only a few feet away. They walked back well away from the wards and Hadrian cast sand repelling charms on each of them and renewed their sunscreen charms as they stripped off and went skinny- dipping in the ocean. Still not a very good swimmer Hadrian stayed close to Tim holding his hand as they splashed about in the surf. Tim certainly didn't mind. They played in the surf for an hour or so before coming out. Hadrian conjured some towels to dry off and a blanket for them to collapse on, and they lay catching their breath, dozing off in the sun, moving in their sleep to wrap themselves around each other.

Tim woke first and rolled Hadrian onto his back, kissing his way down his torso to his semi-hard member, he kissed it gently, swirling his tongue around the head as it grew and hardened before taking it into his mouth. Sucking hard he began to bob his head up and down making Hadrian groan in his sleep as he gradually awoke.

Tim could tell the instant Hadrian woke up enough to realise this wasn't just a dream by the tightening of his hands in his hair, Tim hummed and Hadrian loosened his grip beginning to thrust upwards into Tim's warm mouth. Tim brought his hands to Hadrian's hips holding him down almost roughly as he continued to take Hadrian into his mouth as far as he could without choking.

Hadrian came with a shout that thanks to the wards there was no one to hear, and Tim sat up grinning smugly. "You look thoroughly debauched lying there in the sun," he said.

Hadrian just smiled sleepily, "And you look a little red, do you need your sunscreen charm renewed?"

Tim blushed. "It wouldn't hurt," he admitted reaching up and handing Hadrian his wand.

Hadrian cast the sunscreen charm and then a lubrication charm at Tim's groin before pushing him over onto his back and draping himself over the larger man their erections lined up together, Hadrian squirmed a little as he found the right position chuckling as it made Tim moan. Tim's hardness pressed up against him made his own sated cock start to reharden.

He cast the lubrication charm again into Tim's hand. "Prep me," he ordered huskily rolling them over and bringing his knees up.

Tim hooked one of Hadrian's legs over his shoulder and started working one finger into his lover, quickly adding a second and a third as Hadrian moaned his appreciation.

Hadrian whimpered as Tim pulled his fingers out and wiped them on his cock, then moaned as Tim filled him. "Feels so good."

"Feels amazing," Tim agreed starting to thrust.

Hadrian arched his back so Tim brushed against his prostate with every thrust and enjoyed the lazy pace though he was soon begging Tim to go faster and harder.

Tim grinned and obliged, kissing Hadrian fiercely and sliding his hand between them to wrap around Hadrian's leaking cock, giving it a few tugs in time with his thrusts.

Hadrian dug his short nails into Tim's back as he came shouting out his pleasure to the empty beach, scaring a few nearby seagulls and milking Tim's erection sending him over the edge as well.

Tim rolled them over as he collapsed so Hadrian was sprawled on top of his larger body, wrapping his arms around the smaller man protectively as they rested and recovered.

"It's nice to have some time to ourselves with nothing we should be doing," Tim said.

"I feel I've been neglecting you lately, busy trying to help out Hermione and Ron and I know you don't even like them. Thank you for putting up with this mess," Hadrian said.

"I don't like the way Ron treats you, not just the homophobia but the way he really does believe he has the right to tell you how to live your life," Tim said.

"Most of wizarding Britain feels that way, which is one of the reasons I will never want to live there again. What did you think of Hermione, did you like her better once she relaxed after the compulsions had been removed and the ritual completed?" Hadrian asked curiously.

"She was okay while she was here, I certainly think I'd get along better with her than with Hannah. And at least she admitted the mistakes she'd made with Teddy," Tim replied. "I wouldn't have forgiven her for it if her actions had hurt him though."

"I don't think he ever knew her well enough to be hurt by her abandonment and Andi and I and now you and I love him enough that he doesn't miss having a godmother," Hadrian reassured Tim. "He did seem to have fun playing with her though, we will have to wait and see if he misses her this time. Did we do the right thing letting her spend time with him?"

"I don't think he will miss her enough to upset him, he has us and Barbara, and his school friends. His life is full of love and friendship," Tim replied reassuring Hadrian in his time. "Will you miss her?"

"No, no more than I miss Neville or Kingsley or you miss Tony and Ziva when we're away," Hadrian replied. "She isn't family anymore. I have a real family now."

A/N: Thank you to Firehedgehog, Dark Mind and Saddened Soul, xDarklightx, Melikalilly, Kourtney Uzu Yato, CatGirl04, KEZZ 1, , DarkRavie, .9, charm13insomnia, jayswing96, Lientjuhh, lilly-flower15, kimbarn30, J.F.C, Rori Potter, Locket1, sandipi, dobbys-stinger, buterflypuss, madnessdownunder2, Reader Ethiriel, DullReign82, Maben00, Merlenyn, Silvermane1, DS2010, reckless13, Astrahan, akire26, Vladimir Mithrander, knuckles 8, MintMousse, Gime'SS, jazocoti, Guest, Village-Mystic, julschristine975, GoldenTurboKeyblade, staar (Guest), , yngoldfogee (Guest), Fallow53 (Guest), Serpent91, Guest, MargaritaS, Dawn of UK(Guest), Gottahavemyncis, lia (Guest), Princess Meria, LadyDrak75, gabrieljuarezl, Greysh, Guest, klinde6364, Yua-12, Deadlysilence39, Zeenath and Moiira, wolfwriter1492, LicaSchmidt, scubatrex, Ela23, InlovewithMalfoy, Midnight Fox dragon, Lilikchan, iafaS, VWRock21, MusicxButterflyX, TruGemini, totallypakaha, LillyTigress, DarkAngelAlice13, xanth75, fischohnewasser, darridle, LeoZodiac, sabrinathewitch1996, Mia Heartnet, L. Malfoy, 1stkitty, EriKaBalDeL, CraftyBat0709, amdlara, netzoid27, MoonLightInTheShadow, drasaki, wwwendy, Weirdone516, jpmuel01, KyuubiiLover27, onimaster818, Selkiesprite, salus gem, darkelf217043, SophsShootingStar19, maedeh, noshsh, Treebrooke **,** Slytherin27, SamanthaPerry0, Yun Sakka, animikiikaa, Yamidori, Lindela, bullsgirl, mamalala, BeaG, whyisitalwaysme8, Naia, dragonninja20, .duncan, Radioactive-Vampire, nathanaelys, AtrusMagick, sofihime, RiceFlower, b5j2s1, Ladyduquesa, techi1590, KitsuneKit-ty12323, pattyp723, kittenlore, Ency Peterson, book-zealot, Nessy Salvatore, HRHFelineQueen, Lady Esme, pitatam, twistedpencil, lilcat17, rs3071, silverbluerose, Pielover515, KAJIH, Inu-Neko2, .969, AliceInCrazyland15, Kahlii, .10, Princess Meria, LirialRaito, darkbane848, shepherde7922, bexi2010, caittydid, SerotoninInflamare, caz80, digoryrex, auntytigga93, starie78, Birdie22, kat1972, Zoe9, Schusch, Sincerely-ADedicatedFan, the dragon and the rose, seashelles, Janine1208, Sneffita PT and RStone8 for your support.


	60. Chapter 60

Chapter 60

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or NCIS or any of their characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do **NOT** give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

"I'm really looking forward to spending some free time at home," Tim said.

"Time to write?" Hadrian asked feeling slightly guilty that issues with his friends had kept them so busy lately.

"Yeah but also time to potter around the house, and walk around our neighbourhood, be part of our community, I've missed it," Tim replied.

"Yeah this is a lovely place to get away but it still isn't home, we haven't even met the neighbours much less tried to get involved and I really don't feel like London is home at all anymore. I couldn't wait to get away from Diagon Alley, the feel of everyone looking at me and how they'd stare and gawk if they knew who I was. I want to spend some time in the kitchen cooking, and time just playing with the children and planning the improvements we want to make in the garden. I feel like I just want some mundane days at home with work and family," Hadrian agreed.

"We will have that for the next couple of weeks, we haven't got anything planned," Tim reassured him. "Teddy's got a parents' night at preschool next week and Rosie has another immunization due."

Hadrian groaned. "I know they're important but I hate hurting her like that. Thank Merlin the magical immunisations are potions the healer can spell directly into her stomach."

"I hate it too but we'd never forgive ourselves if she caught one of these diseases," Tim said hugging Hadrian. "I can take her if you like?"

"I'd like you to come with me if you don't have a case," Hadrian said smiling gratefully.

"Sure," Tim said running his hand across Hadrian's shoulders and chest. "Of course, one advantage of being here is that we can do this anywhere we want." He leaned in and kissed Hadrian passionately again.

Hadrian kissed back equally enthusiastically and the two rolled over and over playfully fighting for dominance until they reached the water's edge.

"Is the lube waterproof?" Tim asked.

"If I think of it being waterproof it can be, but we'd drown if we tried to have sex lying in the surf, the tide's coming in."

Trust me" Tim said. "Do you want to be prepped again?"

"No I think I'm fine, so long as my ass doesn't get wet," Hadrian said.

"Waterproof lube please," Tim requested sticking out his hand.

Hadrian filled it and Tim quickly slicked his cock and added the extra to around Tim's entrance before picking him up and carrying him out beyond the breakers. Once in calmer water he carefully lined himself up and slid home. The buoyancy of the water allowed Hadrian to use his thighs wrapped around Tim's waist and hands clinging to Tim's shoulders to move himself easily up and down on Tim's cock taking control of their lovemaking, though the one downside was that there was no way for either of them to slide a hand in between their bodies to reach Hadrian's erection. Still it wasn't long before Hadrian was shouting his release over the sound of the waves.

Hadrian and Tim held onto each other as they regained their breath and stumbled out of the ocean.

"We're outside the wards," Hadrian said suddenly covering himself with his hands.

Tim just laughed and wrapped his arm around Hadrian's shoulder. "If anyone's around, we've already given them a show, let's go home."

They walked back to the blanket and towels and dried off slipping on their shorts. Hadrian banished the towels and blanket and shrunk the picnic basket, before flying back to the house.

Showering was mostly psychological, the sand repelling charm had kept them clean but they enjoyed it before portkeying back home and using the time turner to turn back to the evening before Teddy, Rosie and Tollie arrived home and fell into bed to sleep.

-o0o-

They woke in time to dress before Tollie and the children returned home.

"Thanks Tollie, we'll look after them for the evening, you go and rest," Hadrian said.

"Thank you master Hadrians, I'll not be able to be popping thems both such a long way soon. Theys magics be growings."

"Then we will take a second elf with us next time so you can have a bit of a holiday while we're there too," Hadrian replied. "Have some dinner and then sleep until you are no longer tired. Tim and I will manage tonight and Barbara will be back in the morning."

"Yes Master Hadrians," Tollie said. She had learnt that there was no point arguing when the masters thought she needed a rest and today she really did need it.

Hadrian and Tim took the children into the playroom until dinner then helped with the baths and getting the children ready for bed before all curling up together in Teddy's room for bedtime stories. Once the children were both asleep they called for one of the other house eves to keep an ear out for them and to come and wake them if the children needed them before retiring to their rooms.

Tim needed to catch up on what had been happening in the muggle world before he returned to work so they watched a reputable news channel until it started to repeat itself then went to bed.

-o0o-

Ron and Hermione sat at their kitchen table discussing what to tell Ron's family.

"George knows we were going to see Harry. It's the only reason he gave us both the weekend off," Ron said. "If he's told Mum she's going to want to know everything about it."

"If George told Molly we were going to see Harry for the weekend, then she and Ginny would be sitting here waiting for us to arrive home," Hermione retorted.

"Yeah maybe, but even if he hasn't told her yet doesn't mean he won't. It's Sunday night, we're expected for family dinner and he'll be there," Ron said.

"Harry didn't ask us not to tell them we've seen him, just not to allow them to accompany us or tell them anything that would help them find him," Hermione said slowly.

"You think he wants us to tell them we've seen them, to rub Mum's nose in it?" Ron asked beginning to get angry.

"No, Harry isn't that petty. But I think it might be good for Ginny and for your mother to know that Harry's happily married and has a child. That way Ginny can give up her silly daydreams of Harry coming back and declaring eternal love to her and move on with her life," Hermione said. Privately she thought Molly and Arthur also needed to know that Ginny had not only potioned Harry into loving her she had fed him a near lethal dose of Amortentia and that if it hadn't been discovered he would've been lucky to live long enough for the wedding.

Uncharacteristically, Ron thought about this before replying. "You're right," he agreed. "We need to tell Ginny that Harry won't be coming back to her."

"I only hope that this is enough to make her this time," Hermione replied.

-o0o-

It was just as well they hadn't planned to keep their visit to Harry a secret because everyone noticed Hermione's suntan and demanded an explanation as soon as she walked in.

"Where have you been, you didn't get a tan like that in England at this time of year?" Percy's wife Audrey asked jealously.

"We went to visit Harry for the weekend, well meet Harry would be more accurate since we still don't know where he actually lives," Hermione replied. "He rented a house on a tropical island for us."

The room fell silent for a full minute before Ginny began to screech. "Why didn't you take me with you? I have just as much right to see Harry as you do!"

"You weren't invited," Ron said bluntly. "Harry sent a portkey that would only work for the three of us."

"He didn't register an international portkey," Percy said frowning.

"I'm sure he registered it in the country he made it in," Hermione replied. "Besides he's on special assignment for Kingsley, he has a licence to make international portkeys."

"He sent it by post, it should have come to the ministry," Percy protested.

"He sent it via Kingsley directly," Hermione replied.

"He should have followed proper procedure. Minister Shacklebolt is far too busy to be bothered by such things," Percy said pompously.

"Harry and Kingsley are friends, and Kingsley is Teddy Lupin's new godfather, he may have just given it to him last time he saw him," Hermione replied.

"Why isn't Harry still Teddy's godfather?" George asked.

"Harry blood adopted Teddy so he could become the heir for house Black, so he's Teddy's father not his godfather," Hermione explained.

"Why didn't you tell us before you went so we could send something to the poor boy. How is he is he healthy, is someone looking after him. Are you sure he is eating properly?" Molly demanded.

"He's fit and well and eating properly and he is married, his husband looks after him and the children very well. As for you sending him something after what happened before he left, he wouldn't have accepted it from you. We had to swear a vow not to harm him or his family before he would agree to meet us," Hermione stated. "After all Ginny did try to kill him."

There was an explosion of noise as everyone protested something.

Ginny was screaming about Harry belonging to her, Molly was yelling about her 'adopted son' not inviting her to the wedding, Percy, Audrey, and Bill were objecting to the allegation that Ginny would have harmed Harry and Arthur was trying to find out why Hermione thought Ginny could have harmed Harry.

Ron let out an ear-piercing whistle. "One at a time?" he yelled.

"What do you mean, Ginny tried to kill Harry, she loves him?" Arthur asked.

"Remember just before Harry broke off their engagement, he was attacked and injured?" Hermione asked.

"Yes, but Ginny had nothing to do with the attack, Kingsley investigated that and proved it," Arthur reminded them.

"You're right, Ginny didn't pay to have Harry attacked, in fact the attack ruined her plans for him. Harry was injured and taken to St Mungo's and because he saw a new healer, they did a complete scan to determine what potions would be safe to use to heal him. She discovered that Harry had been dosed with Amortentia so the Aurors ordered further testing. They found that Harry had been potioned over a long period, more than a year. As you know Harry was able to resist the Imperius curse even as a teenager, and that mental resistance also carries over to all mind altering and controlling spells and potions, and he didn't react as well as the person wanted him to so she continually increased the amount she was giving him to a nearly lethal level. Harry's magic was already showing the effects which may have contributed to his injuries and his inability to subdue the assailant the night of the attack. If she had continued to increase the dose he would have died within months, possibly even before the wedding Ginny wanted so much she was prepared to poison him into," Hermione finished scathingly.

Arthur paled. He remembered that Kingsley was aware Harry had proof of this stored in a way that it would be sent to the authorities if something happened to him. He wondered if Kingsley knew he'd been overdosed that badly that his life had been in danger. Arthur regretted not having put Harry's name onto the Weasley clock, which might have warned them all something was wrong. He had wanted to wait until their wedding day to make it special.

"That's why he broke off his engagement?" Bill said horrified, "And we all attacked him for it and drove him away. No wonder he didn't trust us enough to invite us to his wedding. And why he wouldn't accept food from any of us. But it doesn't explain how we've never heard that he was married? It should have been front page news."

"It was a fairly small wedding from all accounts, though Kingsley, Robbards and Neville Longbottom were there." Hermione replied.

"Impossible!" Katie Bell, George's fiancé, replied. "If Hannah Longbottom had been there I would have heard about it. I think half the people in Diagon Alley have heard about them visiting Harry over the summer."

"Yeah, Tim said that he'd met Hannah over the summer," Ron said.

"I don't think Neville told her about going to the wedding at the time, remember when he had that assignment away with Robbards, supposedly learning to live in the muggle world without standing out and Hannah was angry that he wasn't home to take her to Ernie's party and the New Year's Eve ball?" Hermione said. Hadrian said their wedding was the week between Christmas and New Year's."

"Yeah! But Hannah told us all about the week she spent with Harry over the summer, and how he's sending Teddy to a muggle preschool and about how purebloods are breeding themselves into extinction and muggleborns are magically stronger than a lot of purebloods these days. She talked about it for weeks. But she never mentioned that Harry was married or had a pregnant wife or a child."

"Hadrian might have spelled her to secrecy about Tim," Ron said.

"If he'd done that to Neville and Hannah he would have done it to us as well," Hermione argued.

"Neville wouldn't gossip and he hates the way Hannah can't keep a secret, he might have agreed that Harry should spell his wife not to tell," Katie said. "But she talked about Tim, she said he was Harry's Auror partner even though he was a muggle."

"He is a muggle Auror," Ron agreed.

Hermione laughed, "I wish I'd known that spell at Hogwarts I could have spelled Lavender and Parvati not to be able to gossip."

"They would have murdered you in your sleep," Katie said,

"And you couldn't know the spell Harry hadn't invented it yet," Ron said, missing the point. "Besides it only hides one secret. You would've had to cast it a million times."

"To get a break from their constant talk about every boy in the school it would almost have been worth it," Hermione retorted.

"Never mind that, you said Harry married a man?" Molly screeched.

"Yeah," Ron said perking up now that he had someone else who thought it was abnormal too.

"Yes, he did. Harry is homosexual and there is a spell available in America that allows two men to have a baby together so there was no reason for him not to marry the man he loves," Hermione said firmly.

"But it can't be legal" Ginny said eagerly.

"It is perfectly legal in most of the world it's just Britain that wants to remain in the dark ages," Hermione huffed. "And it's legal according to the Goblins, their daughter is recognised as the Potter heir."

"There is no actual law against it but it just isn't done," Percy stated. "If the goblins have recognised the child then she is the heir, at least until Harry has a son."

"It is done almost everywhere other than the backwater that is the British Wizarding World," Hermione said growling. "Harry is my best friend and I am going to support him in his choices. And I must admit that Harry and Tim seem happier than any of your marriages. Heaven knows I only wish my marriage could be half as successful as his. And Tim is everything you could want for a husband for one of your children."

"Except for the magic," Ron put in.

"He's a muggle?" Molly said frowning.

"No, he's a wizard, probably muggleborn though it's possible he isn't. In his country, they start magical school at eight and if parents don't agree to send their children to learn magic the child's magic is bound and they're obliviated of all memory of the wizarding world. Tim has enough magic for potions to work and stuff but he can't use a wand," Hermione explained.

"He's a squib," Percy declared, "He doesn't have the rights of a wizard."

"Well that's debatable because he wasn't born a squib and their daughter is definitely a strong witch. He has magic, they just haven't worked out a way to release the bindings without risking his life," Hermione argued.

"He's not a witch or wizard, his children can't inherit all of Harry's titles, he's going to have to divorce him and marry a proper witch," Ginny declared, her eyes gleaming.

"They were married by ritual, they can't divorce," Ron argued.

"They couldn't be, if Harry didn't marry a witch," Molly said with certainty.

"Tim is a wizard, he has plenty of magic to complete a marriage ritual. Harry showed me their vows, they were really beautiful," Hermione said. "He didn't ask Tim to vow to honour and obey, he gave him vows that would help their marriage not make him unhappy."

"When's he coming home?" Molly asked, keen to see this man for herself and judge whether he was good enough for Harry, even though she just knew he would have been better off with her daughter. It was a pity Ginny hadn't put the time and effort into making Harry fall in love with her without potions.

"He isn't not coming back until Teddy graduates from school if then, he says Teddy is better off in America where he doesn't have to face the prejudice of being the son of a werewolf, did you know there are stores in Diagon Alley who wouldn't let him in?" Hermione said.

Molly, Ginny, and Bill looked surprised but Arthur and the twins nodded sadly and Percy also agrees that he knew. "It's frowned upon by the current administration but it's difficult to change the habits of a lifetime."

"He has to come home," Ginny protested.

"Even if he did come back to England you wouldn't be allowed within a mile of him," Hermione hissed fiercely. "If Harry wasn't so forgiving you'd be spending twenty-five years in Azkaban and your whole family would be social pariahs. Arthur, Bill and Percy would have lost their jobs and the twins lost their business and we'd all be going hungry instead of sitting down to this lovely dinner, so I'd suggest that you shut up and let us enjoy it."

Ginny looked taken aback and looked to her family for support. She didn't get any, most of the others were nodding at Hermione or glaring at her.

-o0o-

"Where were you this weekend I rang you. Did you forget Rule 3?" Tony asked as Tim arrived in the bullpen.

"I was away visiting friends of Hades. And you know very well that rule doesn't include while you are away on annual leave," Tim replied.

"Why on earth would you waste leave days on a weekend we weren't even on call?" Tony asked.

"Because I knew I would be unreachable if something happened and we were called in. Since you weren't the leave days will be returned to me," Tim explained.

"What are his friends like?" Tony asked nosily.

"British, they're a couple Hades went to school with. He works in his brother's shop and she's a chemist they have a baby about three or four months older than Rosie," Tim replied giving them the bare minimum information.

"Was it Neville and his wife?" Jimmy asked.

"No, we spent a week with them at the beach house in the summer, Ron and Hermione couldn't come to the wedding because Hermione wasn't allowed to travel that close to her due date. Hadrian hasn't seen much of them since he was posted over here and he was happy to catch up though they don't have a lot in common other than the girls these days," Tim replied. "But I can ask Hades to say hello to Neville for you if you like, they talk most weeks about work and things."

"I wouldn't have thought they'd run too many joint operations from opposite sides of the pond?" Tony said curiously.

"They're different parts of the task force looking into the same terrorist organisation. It's mostly European based but Hades and his team here are tasked with making sure it stays that way," Tim explained.

"Gear up, we've got a case, missing petty officer based at the pentagon, Tony, you and Tim take his house and wife, Ziva and I will go to his office and talk to his co-workers," Gibbs barked ending the conversation.

"I got the impression you didn't like Hadrian's friends. Did it cause a problem?" Tony commented as they drove to the address provided.

"You're correct I didn't like Ron, but I get the impression they've changed a lot since leaving school and Hades didn't much like the changes either. It's unlikely they'll visit again," Tim said. "What do we know about this petty officer's wife?"

"Well for starters his spouse is male which explains why Gibbs sent you," Tony said. "He's twenty-one and a full-time student at GWU. They've been together three months, or maybe they mean they've been living together three months."

"Twenty-one! How old is the Petty Officer?" Tim asked.

"Thirty-eight. Not that you can talk, you've got your own toy boy," Tony teased.

Tim flushed. That was closer to the truth than he liked to admit. "There's not that much of a gap, Petty Officer Foster's old enough to be the kid's father. No wonder they live off base."

"Or his Sugar Daddy!" Tony suggested.

"It's possible, GWU isn't cheap," Tim said. "There were students at Johns Hopkins that used the Sugar system to subsidise their living expenses so they could complete grad school without too much extra debt."

"You mean little gold diggers?" Tony said derisively.

"No, it's more like a job, long term prostitution maybe a better description is the old-fashioned rich men used to keep mistresses. It's not just sexual. The sugar daddy exchanges money and gifts for companionship affection and often exclusive access as well. But most sugars are well aware that their toy boy or girl is there for the financial gain as well as the companionship."

"Most but not all?" Tony said.

"It's possible that someone's naive enough to think that a student half their age is in love with them and the fact that they're showering them with gifts has nothing to do with their affection but you'd have to be stupid not to at least suspect it," Tim replied. "But I don't think that's what happened here, if Foster had only just found out he was being used it would be Brent that went missing."

"Unless he attacked the kid and the kid killed him in self-defence, or the kid had convinced Foster to change his will," Tony put in.

Tim hummed in noncommittal agreement.

"Did you think that? I mean did you think Hades was using you like that?"

"Yeah I did at first. I knew he had money of his own, and I wasn't buying him gifts but at first I thought he was using me for a place to stay. But he rented his own apartment after a couple of weeks and kind of moved into it, he just never totally moved out of my place. I thought then he was just lonely like me but then we fell in love, but he'd moved out and was totally supporting himself before our relationship became more than friendship," Tim admitted. "Let's meet the man before we judge too much, maybe they were genuinely in love."

"Or the kid could be a honey trap," Tony suggested.

Tim nodded.

The young boyfriend was doing a good impression of a worried and grief-stricken spouse but when Tim and Tony checked out the house they noticed that someone had already started to pack up the larger size clothing they assumed belonged to the missing man.

"Was Petty Officer Foster going somewhere?" Tim asked.

"No why?" Brent asked. "Oh that, he'd lost some weight and was clearing out the clothes that no longer fit."

Tony nodded and took over the conversation, "Was the weight loss your doing or for your benefit?"

"He was eating less takeaways because I was here to come home to. And instead of sitting on the couch watching sports we were out enjoying life," Brent said happily, while Tim quietly text Ziva to ask his colleagues if the missing man had recently lost enough weight to need to revamp his wardrobe, or if he'd talked of either going on a trip or leaving his boyfriend.

The answer came back negative, the Petty Officer had recently lost a little weight but not enough to need to rep[lace his wardrobe, and Tim signalled as much to Tony, before calling for backup to watch the young man while they conducted a more thorough search of the property.

"You can't do that, you need a warrant!" Brent protested.

"You're not under arrest yet but I will read you your Miranda warning now to save time later," Tim replied, reciting the rights. And we don't need a warrant, Petty Officer Foster has been officially declared missing, and presumed to be in possession of national secrets. This is his house and therefore a potential crime scene."

"You don't seriously think Dennis is small enough to fit in his desk drawers, do you?" Brent asked sarcastically when Tony began to riffle through them.

"No but travel plans and receipts are and we still haven't determined whether Petty Officer Foster left of his own accord. We have to look at everything because the smallest scrap of paper might give us an answer," Tony explained grinning.'

"Though of course we are also looking for his body, the cadaver dogs will be here soon," Tim added, watching carefully for a reaction.

A/N: Thank you to veyronking995, J.F.C, Reader Ethiriel, Firehedgehog, DarkRavie, Dilligas762, Melikalilly, charm13insomnia, lilly-flower15, Kourtney Uzu Yato, KEZZ 1, 19811945, starie78, Guest, buterflypuss, xDarklightx, mithrilandtj, CatGirl04, acherongoddess, DS2010, Rori Potter, Gottahavemyncis, sandipi, knuckles 8, salus gem, Merlenyn **,** DullReign82, kimbarn30, , serenityselena, Sil, vermane1, jazocoti, mayawene, Guest, Gime'SS, Fallow53 (Guest), NGBW, magicanimegurl, delia cerrano, Harriverse, GoldenTurboKeyblade, Foxy-Floof, whatweareafreaidof, Serpent91, Geistervogel, staar (Guest), lia (Guest), Maben00, Shiovaun, KitsuneKeeper, Sanguineperspective, BakuganShari, G8girl, Chisana22, READER51, dragonic raptor, Packhero, archant, Tasva **,** WWWebSpider, .9256, wathou, hikarunamikaze, Ceica, Irland Phoenix, JusticeForAll, The Daemon, Modulus, crazyfan19, kurai bara, ztruking1, dwsdmk, goku90504, , alueua, lh0224, kaijean81, Obsesive Reader, danchar, city bookworm, Bleudiablo, Kyuubi Koku, tatis, dollydelle, UnbendingCynic, cutelittlekitten18 and BlackRose1356 for your support.


	61. Chapter 61

Chapter 61

Brent didn't react to the threat, and the cadaver dogs didn't find anything, neither did Tim or Tony. There was no evidence in the house that Petty Officer Foster had been planning to leave his job or his even take a vacation. His passport was in the drawer and once they'd been through the packed clothes and had Brent return them to the wardrove there didn't seem to be any empty spaces. Brent confirmed there were no clothes or personal effects missing, other than his wallet cell-phone, keys and car.

Tim and Tony returned to the yard and Tim searched through the petty officer's bank records. There had been no activity in the time since he'd last been seen leaving work the night before and other than some large cash withdrawals which matched deposits into Brent's account, nothing suspicious.

"So he left work as usual and just fell of the face of the earth?" Tony asked incredulously.

"He hasn't withdrawn cash or packed a bag, there's no evidence he planned on leaving. His credit cards haven't been used and there's no outgoing calls or texts on his cell phone after seven last night," Tim reported.

"What about previous calls?" Gibbs asked.

"Nothing that stands out, in the last week he's made several calls to Brent, one to his drycleaner, one to his mother and several calls to colleagues, tracing back the last couple of months none of those calls were unusual," Tim replied. "I got his office phone records from the pentagon though the official calls are heavily redacted, there was nothing unusual left there either."

"Can you get a location on his cell phone?" Gibbs asked.

"The phone was turned off approximately seven thirty last night, it's last locations showed it pinging off the towers along the highway, he was headed for his home. It's an old phone that cannot be turned on remotely but I have an alert set on my computer in case it is turned back on," Tim said.

"His car did not have GPS. On my calculations, he had about half a tank of gas, he normally filled up on a Tuesday. So, he could have travelled approximately 140 miles before having to either fill up or find an alternative form of transport. He was a creature of habit and nothing in his routine in the last week was out of the norm," Tony added.

"So you have nothing for me?" Gibbs snapped.

"If he did plan to leave he had to have stockpiled cash without changing his banking habits. He had to have been planning it for months if not years. My gut says he didn't leave by choice," Tim stood up for his analysis.

"Any hits on the BOLO?" Gibbs barked at DiNozzo.

"No Boss. I think that he arrived home and was attacked by his boy toy, and the kid has hidden the car somewhere," Tony speculated.

"The cell towers show him heading for home, not arriving. The cell phone was turned off before he got there," Tim countered.

"Is there any CCTV footage of him driving home, try to trace his route, and bring up the satellite images of the road involved," Gibbs ordered.

"On it Boss," Tim said beginning the searches for traffic management camera's along the highway.

He has an idea and checks the speed cameras. Finding what he's looking for he puts the entire route up on the plasma. "Boss I've got something."

"What is it McGee?" Gibbs looked up.

"Petty Officer Foster was caught on speed camera here, here and here. On this one he was going almost twenty miles over the speed limit. But on the next camera he wasn't caught so either he slowed down after this point for some reason or he left the highway, there's only one exit ramp between them and unfortunately the camera on it wasn't operational. I'm looking for other camera's that might have caught him in that neighbourhood but the timing fits he was caught on this camera at 7.28 and he turned his phone off at 7.31," Tim said using the laser pointer to show positions on the map up on the plasma.

"Show me the satellite image of the area, enlarge the section after he was last seen," Gibbs ordered.

"Tony, Ziva. Go out and check that section of highway make sure that our Petty Officer did leave the road via the off ramp and not off the edge of the road into the river there," Gibbs ordered.

Tony jumped up and grabbed the keys. "Boss?" Ziva asked.

"There are no collision reports filed for that time" Tim reported. "But a truck did lose control and run off the bridge earlier in the day so there was a section of guardrail missing," Tim reported.

"Go!" Gibbs barked.

Tony phoned in an hour later, we found paint transference that looks like it could have been from Foster's car. Unless the truck was red then we need to call in the divers."

Tim had already pulled up the accident report and it only took a moment to confirm. "The truck was blue, Boss."

"I'll call in the divers, stay there and meet them," Gibbs ordered.

Tony groaned.

It took the divers an hour to arrive and about fifteen minutes to find the car and confirm it was empty.

"All the windows were open, not smashed and the seatbelt unfastened, the driver definitely got out of the car," they reported to Tony. "We can keep looking for a body but I don't think we're going to find one. The airbag engaged but the drop isn't big enough for hitting the water to incapacitate the driver and the banks easy enough to climb out of."

"And yet the driver is missing, with nothing in his possession except a dead cell phone soggy clothing and credit cards he hasn't used since the accident," Tony said thoughtfully pulling out his phone.

"Probie, check the hospitals around here. The guy got out of the car," he ordered.

"On it!" Tim disconnected then updated Gibbs while. "They've found the car and Foster wasn't in it. Tony asked me to check hospitals for a car accident or drowning victim."

Gibbs grunted. "Why wasn't this done before we were brought in?"

Tim fought the urge to apologise or make excuses and turned back to his work.

"There were no call outs to an accident or drowning in the area, checking hospitals now.

-o0o-

He's not been admitted to any hospital in the area," Tim reported after an hour on the phone with various hospital receptionists.

"Call the divers back in," Gibbs ordered.

"We will need to wait for daylight Boss," Tim said hesitantly after looking out the window at the darkening sky.

"Canvas the houses on each side of the riverbank, maybe someone saw him climbing out of the water," Gibbs ordered.

"Yes Boss," Tim said. He rang Hadrian to tell him he'd be late. "Unless you have a magical way of locating our Petty Officer?" he said jokingly.

"I could try but since I've never met him I'd have to be pretty close to him," Hadrian said.

"Would it help to have something he touched or wore recently?"

"No. It would help to have a good picture so I can focus on him," Hadrian replied laughing. "I'm not some whack job fortune teller or diviner."

Tim laughed. "Sorry! He drove his car off the Chesapeake Bay Bridge near Stevensville. His body wasn't found in the car and we think he escaped but we haven't managed to trace him after leaving the bridge."

"I'll be there as soon as I can. Bring a good map of the area," Hadrian said.

"I'm at the Navy yard it will take me nearly an hour in this traffic," Tim replied.

"I'll see you there then," Hadrian replied.

-o0o-

"I'm supposed to be canvassing the houses along this side of the river for potential witnesses," Tim said.

"At this time of night, without backup?" Hadrian protested.

"Tony and Ziva were meeting me here," Tim said. "I don't know what's taking them so long."

"Well I better get this done before they get here. Point me Petty Officer Dennis Foster," Hadrian said and they watched as his wand slowly moved to point towards the water.

"It didn't work. Oh well, it was worth a try," Tim sighed.

"It did work Tim, the wand wouldn't have moved if it didn't," Hadrian said.

"Does that mean Foster is alive?" Tim asked.

"Not necessarily, I concentrated on him or his body, because I don't know him I couldn't concentrate on searching for anything else," Hadrian said.

"Well he made it out of the car…" Tim said thoughtfully, "I would have thought that the divers would have found him if he was caught in debris or something."

"Did they check the boot?" Hadrian asked.

Tim looked at him blankly for a minute.

"I think you call it the trunk, the part of the car you would store groceries and suitcases?" Hadrian explained.

"I don't know," Tim replied. He called Tony.

"Tony, Tim. Did the divers check the trunk?" Tim asked.

"Hey McGoo. No why would they, nothing was missing from his home or his office?" Tony asked confused.

"I think we should have them check when they pull the car out of the riverbed. Petty Officer Foster hasn't been admitted to any of the hospitals in the area and hasn't accessed his credit cards. Even if you had the cash, how many hotels would rent a room to a man that was dripping wet and looked like they'd been in a car wreck?"

"None without gossiping about it, that's for sure!" Tony said.

"I think he could have been in the trunk, I'm going back to the Navy Yard to see if I can identify the driver on those speed camera photos. We assumed it was Foster but may not have been," Tim said before disconnecting.

"Thanks Hades, you've probably saved us hours of slogging along trying to work out the street addresses for all the houses with river frontage," Tim said kissing his husband.

"You can thank me properly later. Try to get home for dinner, I made lasagne," Hadrian said kissing back before ducking out of sight and apparating home.

Tim headed back to NCIS Headquarters and pulled up the traffic camera photographs of Petty Officer Foster's car, this time enlarging the photos to try to identify the driver of the vehicle, something they didn't do earlier, assuming that Foster had been driving his own car which they knew he had been when he left the pentagon secure carpark that evening.

"Brent Spinner!" he exclaimed. "We've got him."

He phoned to Gibbs who was out of the office perhaps having gone home for the day.

"Boss I had an idea and came back to check the traffic camera's. Foster wasn't driving his car, his boyfriend Brent Spinner was, and his boyfriend had a trophy in the house stating he was the schoolboy champion for the 1500m freestyle in Ohio, his home state. I think before the divers look along the river bed for Foster's body they need to check the trunk of the car," Tim said. "Either he's in the trunk or Brent helped him conceal his disappearance by driving his car into the river."

"Good work Tim, I'll meet you in the parking lot and we'll go to pick up this boyfriend tonight before he does a runner as well, we'll leave him to sweat in the cells for the night. Make sure the divers and crane are booked for first thing in the morning, this is now a priority case," Gibbs ordered.

Tim smiled. "Thanks Boss."

He called Tony and Ziva to update them and set things in motion for the next day before hurrying down to the car park with a set of keys.

-o0o-

The divers went in at first light and hooked the car up to the crane to pull it out of the water. Gibbs had given Tim the early morning off choosing to supervise the operation himself and calling in Ducky, Tony and Ziva once the body was discovered.

Tim arrived in the bullpen just before seven to Tony and Ziva clapping as soon as they saw him.

"What's up? I'm not late," Tim said confused.

"No but you saved us a whole day canvassing the houses along the riverbank. You were right, Petty Officer Foster was in his trunk. How'd you guess?" Ziva asked.

Tim had thought about this and had his explanation ready, "I don't know, I looked at his behaviour driving. Foster had a perfect driving record and drove that highway every day, he would have known where those speed cameras were and looking at the footage I couldn't see any cars keeping up with him so he wasn't being chased. If he had driven off that bridge on purpose then he wouldn't have started speeding so long before the bridge, it was out of character, so I checked the camera firstly to see if he'd been alone, and then if it was him driving. Once I saw Brent driving I knew it had to be one of two options, either they were running from something together, in which case I wouldn't have expected Brent to still be sitting at home barely packed, or Brent had kidnapped or killed him. Where's the Boss?"

"Coffee run," Tony replied. "We've just got back from the crime scene. Where were you McTardy?"

"Gibbs told me to come straight here and start running background on Brent. He didn't call me out this morning because he and I worked late apprehending the guy who drove the car into the bay. It was nearly midnight before I finished booking him and setting up my searches Tony," Tim explained.

"Oh poor little Timmy. You miss a hot date with Hades, wait you don't do that anymore with two kids, I know you missed story time," Tony teased.

"Yes I missed spending time with my children last night, which is why Gibbs didn't call me out to the crime scene before the kids got up this morning," Tim replied calmly.

"Hey maybe I should have a kid if it gets you consideration like that," Tony said.

"You have a child?" Ziva hooted with laughter. "You need a stable relationship first. You can't even date a woman for more than a couple of weeks."

"I could use a surrogate," Tony said stung.

"You live in an adult only complex," Tim reminded Tony, "and even with two of us Hadrian and I need a live in nanny because of the hours we both work when we have a case. But if you're sure I could get you the details of some reputable agencies."

As expected, Tony hurriedly backpedalled. "I think I need more time to think about it, kids aren't really my thing you know, they wouldn't fit with my lifestyle."

Tim winked at Ziva as he finished booting up his computer, "Has anyone gone further into the toy boy's background?" he asked.

"No, nothing further than the information you got yesterday," Ziva replied, "Why?"

"There was nothing in his history to suggest he was the killer, and he was way too calm when we were searching the house."

"There was nothing in the house Probie," Tony reminded him.

"Yes but he had started packing up Foster's clothes, who knows what other mistakes he might have made, he should have been worried or at least nervous," Tim said.

"You mean he couldn't know what else you were looking for?" Ziva said.

"Abby did you run Brent Dyson's prints?" Tim asked via telephone.

"No Gibbs hasn't even spoken to him yet," Abby replied.

"Can you run them please? There's something fishy in his background, I can't put my finger on it," Tim requested.

"What is it McSuspicious?" Tony asked.

"His history is very average standard, maybe too average," Tim said. "It wouldn't surprise me if it'd been faked."

"You're thinking witness protection?" Ziva asked.

"No, I think we would have heard from the Marshalls by now if he was," Tim replied. "I think he could be a fugitive from a previous similar crime."

"A serial killer?" Ziva asked.

"He didn't look like a psychopath," Tony scoffed.

"And exactly what do you think a psychopath looks like Tony, the movie interpretation of a geeky hairstyle and glasses is pure fiction and you should know that," Tim retorted.

"Because you've met so many serial killers, McMoviecritic," Tony snarked. "Thanks Boss" he added facetiously as Gibbs head-slapped him.

"Report! What do we know about this clown, McGee?" Gibbs barked.

"His record's clean boss, almost too clean. He's enrolled at GWU studying business management, no priors, he's never even had a speeding ticket. He says he's from Ohio but there are no records of him being born or attending school there. Abby's running his prints now," Tim dutifully gave what information he had.

"You think he's using an alias?" Gibbs asked.

"For someone with no priors he was awfully calm when two federal agents arrived to search the house. I thought at the time it meant he had nothing to hide, but if he murdered Petty Officer Foster then that means he was confident he wouldn't give himself away and there was nothing to find in the house, and that suggests experience," Tim replied.

Gibbs nodded and headed down to get results from Abby.

"He's twenty-one, how much experience do you think this guy has?" Tony scoffed.

"I killed my first mark at seventeen Tony," Ziva said quietly.

"And he could also be lying about his age" Tim replied. His computer beeped. "I have a birth and death record for a Brent Spinner matching his date of birth in Las Vegas Nevada. The baby lived for four days." He sent a text through to Gibbs phone, not wanting to ring in case he was interrogating the suspect.

-o0o-

"It was late in the day before they had all the answers. 'Brent Spinner's' fingerprints were found at two previous murder scenes, and facial recognition resulted in another three cases where he was a person of interest. Sending out to the local PD's for the information revealed a pattern. 'Spinner' or whoever his real name was would pose as a young gay university student and catch the eye of an older man. He would be the perfect boyfriend for several months before the older man died in a suspicious accident and then 'Spinner' produced a will leaving everything to him. Several families had tried to protest these wills stating how uncharacteristic it was for their deceased not to leave anything to his family or to use the family solicitor. In one case the police reopened the case when the family solicitor was able to produce a will signed less than a week after the will 'Spinner' produced.

"We still don't know who he is," Ziva growled.

"We might also be missing a victim," Tony said looking at the time line Tim was making.

"Possibly two, here in 2004 we have no known address for him for nine months and here in 2006 for six months though maybe he was just taking a break, that timeline is pretty short for a crime like this. To attract a victim, start a relationship, be with him long enough for it not to raise flags if the family protest the will and then to kill the victim and wait for the estate to settle before moving on," Tim said pointing to the gaps in the timeline he'd established from the fingerprint matches.

"What if he didn't wait for settlement?" Tony said. "Sioux City is a border city. What if he started trolling for his next victim on the other side of the state line as soon as he killed the last one. He could be in a relationship and ready to move in with the guy by the time the estate settled. Already moved in if Randle Georgeson didn't have family watching his movements. Likewise, Sioux falls where he showed up after that isn't so far away either. Sioux City, Iowa is one of the places he didn't get the money before the police became suspicious so he would have been desperate for his next target then you can see the time line slows down after that, he became more cautious of his behaviour as a newly grieving widower or take time to choose targets without children or close family."

"It's possible," Ziva said thoughtfully. "Gibbs will get it out of him."

Gibbs easily used the information they gave him to break the suspect and he confessed to all his murders, including the three they didn't know about in Sioux City Nebraska in 2006, Chicago 2004 and Albuquerque New Mexico 2001. They contacted local law enforcement with the information on the deaths. Gibbs allowed them to leave the paperwork for the morning and they left the Navy Yard on time for a change.

-o0o-

Tim arrived home to find the house fragrant with the smell of Thai cooking and Teddy running towards him yelling. "Daddy Daddy!"

Tim scooped him up over his head and spun him around before pulling him down into a hug. "What have you been doing Teddy?"

"We made a blanket fort and Papa said if we leave it up until the weekend then we can have a sleepover in it," Teddy said excitedly.

Hadrian appeared in the playroom doorway with Rosie in his arms and grinned sheepishly.

"Whipped!" Tim mouthed to Hadrian, grinning.

"Dad dad dad," Rosie said.

"Hey Rosie Girl" Tim greeted reaching to take her out of Hadrian's arms and kissing his husband on the cheek as Hadrian took Teddy.

"Did you have fun with your brother and your Papa in the blanket fort?" he asked.

Rosie babbled back to him.

"Dinner's ready whenever you want it," Hadrian said.

"It smells wonderful, let me help the kids wash up and we'll join you at the table," Tim said, happily immersing himself in the chaos of his family life.

-o0o-

"You're going to regret it tonight when we have to sleep on the floor in that wretched fort," Tim said as they finished getting dressed Saturday morning, ready to go to the local farmer's market. Teddy had been talking excitedly about their sleepover for days, there was no way they were getting out of it.

"It will be comfortable enough with cushioning charms, and maybe a small expansion charm so we all fit," Hadrian reminded him.

Tim laughed, "It will be comfortable enough to sleep but we're going to miss our alone time," he reminded his husband.

Hadrian pulled a face, "I'm sure we can think of something, maybe turn some time for ourselves," he replied.

They headed out to the market to buy supplies for their night in the fort, and Hadrian tried to involve Teddy in choosing the fresh fruit and vegetables, showing him how to look for bruising and smell each one. He allowed him to put the sugar snap peas in his satchel along with some homemade fudge after he made Teddy promise not to eat the fudge before they got home.

Teddy promised solemnly and Hadrian and Tim both turned a blind eye to the little boy snacking on the fresh peas as they made their rounds around the rest of the stalls, buying homemade bread and jams as well as their week's fruit and veg. finished with the stalls they headed over to have a picnic beside the play park and let Teddy run off some energy while Rosie happily spent some time playing on her tummy with her Daddy.

Teddy soon found his friends in the play park and their mothers came over to talk to Hadrian.

"We haven't seen much of you lately?" Ethan's stepmother Tiana said.

"I had some family issues at home, so we've been to London sorting things out," Hadrian said. "And then we took a long weekend to relax and recover as well."

"Somewhere lovely and warm from the look of that suntan, but Tim didn't seem to have tanned at all when I saw him in the market earlier," Tiana was fishing, wondering if the two were having problems.

Hadrian laughed, "Tim doesn't tan, in fact we should donate money to sunscreen research since it looks like Rosie is going to take after him," he joked.

Tiana laughed too. "That would make a beach holiday unpopular," she commiserated.

Hadrian shrugged, "We still had fun, the beach we were at had some really great shade."

"Where did you go?" Troy's mother Melanie asked, wondering whether they owned a beach house and how she could get the family invited to use it.

"Hawaii on our way back from London," Hadrian replied.

"Well I'm glad you're back, Troy said Teddy was missing his parents," Melanie said.

"Teddy and Rosie came to England with us for a while before Barbara brought them back here when Teddy started to miss school and they joined us in Hawaii too," Hadrian replied.

"Are you and Teddy out on your own?" Tiana asked.

"No," Hadrian replied without elaborating, if she wanted to go a harass Tim she'd have to find him on her own.

They arrived home and Hadrian spent the afternoon baking cookies with Teddy's enthusiastic help, they had a lot of fun but the elves looked at the state of the kitchen afterwards in horror and it was only Hadrian's abject apologies and the knowledge that their master and little master had thoroughly enjoyed making the mess that stopped them from being scolded. Hadrian handed Teddy off to a chuckling Tim to bath while he took a shower to wash off the extra cake batter, he and Teddy had gorged themselves on cookie dough so much that Hadrian had had to mix up another batch for there to be enough cookies for the evening. Teddy was incredibly excited about sleeping in the fort, so much so that Hadrian expected he would need to use a sleeping spell to get the little boy to sleep. Rosie was too young to understand the concept but she would also have difficulties settling anywhere but her own cot, and Hadrian could see a long evening of stories and lullabies in his immediate future. He got out of the shower and dressed in his warm pyjamas before taking the pillows and blankets downstairs and casting the cushioning charms on the floor under the fort and setting up for their 'campout'.

Teddy came running down in his pyjama's to join him, followed more slowly by Tim carrying Rosie. Hadrian concurred a legless copy of Rosie's cot and apparated upstairs to fetch her mattress and bedding so it would smell the same. It was barely five o'clock but the two adults hoped by starting the evening early, teddy could enjoy himself before getting too tired and have the feeling of staying up late while still getting enough sleep. The full moon was still two weeks away. And they'd missed the last one by spending DC's night time in London and then portkeying home to spend London's night in DC. It had worked and the little boy had got more sleep than usual with fewer nightmares but it still wasn't a perfect solution as the international portkey still made him sick to his stomach for a few hours.

"They played some children's board games and ate their feast, played more games and snacked on cookies before reading stories and at bedtime Hadrian wandlessly cast a sleepiness charm on both children to combat the sugar in the cookies, wanting them to calm down and settle themselves to sleep while Tim's voice got softer and softer as he read. It didn't take too long before both children were asleep and Tim pulled Hadrian into his arms to cuddle.

Mindful that Teddy could easily wake at any time they limited themselves to light kisses and cuddling.

"We could sneak upstairs for a while," Hadrian suggested.

"This whole sleeping in the fort was your idea," Tim said. "Teddy will be upset if he wakes up and we're not here."

"I could spell them to sleep to guarantee they won't wake up for a few hours and we could come back down to sleep," Hadrian said. "I checked with the healers, it doesn't hurt them unless Rosie misses a feed and she isn't due until ten o'clock, we can wake her up and feed her when we come back down."

"I ought to make you stay down here. This whole thing was your idea," Tim teased.

"Admit it, you enjoyed the evening, and Teddy loved every minute," Hadrian replied, completely unrepentant.

Tim crawled out of the fort, stood up and held out his hand to help Hadrian to his feet as he followed him out. Hadrian cast the sleeping spells and the two men walked hand in hand up to their bedroom where they proceeded to make the most of the next two hours before putting their pyjama's back on and returning to the blanket fort to feed Rosie her late night bottle and spend the night with their children.

Hadrian fell asleep with Rosie on his chest and Teddy tucked in between himself and Tim. Tim quietly called a house elf to take a photograph of the trio. Lying back thinking what a lucky man he was to have such a loving family finally, he fell asleep with a smile on his face. He slept through Tollie popping back in and taking half a dozen more photos.

A/N: Thank you to Carl-the-strange, Kaorilamb, knuckles 8, DullReign82, Reader Ethiriel, SpiritBlackPaw, Kourtney Uzu Yato, DarkRavie, Melikalilly, Maben00, lilly-flower15, Guest, Firehedgehog, charm13insomnia, Serpent91, KEZZ 1, buterflypuss, Village-Mystic, MageVicky, Fallow53 (Guest), DS2010, starie78, sandipi, acherongoddess, jazocoti, madnessdownunder2, Rori Potter, Harriverse, Locket1, Anon (Guest), delia cerrano, Gime'SS, Silvermane1, staar (Guest), Sakya, serenityselena, kimbarn30, Gottahavemyncis, Merlenyn, , , lia (Guest), lettibelly, emmarie57, Deep and Devastating, lharmonie93, DarkAngel2503, Wonkie, RobbiAshes, Lady Maxime, upsidedownkpopfreak, Luziefers nightmare, julieqt, draggah7, Basted2, kitayalera, ambrosiaBCP03 **,** 3, kyoko8lin, kurai bara, Izabela75, I3reading, ShadowMoon7321, TwiggRules, Sanae47, DarkSerphiam, Soaring Hawk1, ashmoe810, Zila Kaelar, zimmer-90.1, jlwfan, Liesmithson, lilasin101, sooner36, haydenkelley01, Vickage, All The Pretty Horses, Perlympian chaos, Fyreheart, mesmereyes, mistymalfoy and pekhet for your support.


	62. Chapter 62

Chapter 62

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or NCIS or any of their characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do **NOT** give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

It was the first of the month and the magical reminder to take his birth control potion rang. Hadrian got up and collected it from the bathroom then stopped and looked at it in horror as a thought occurred to him.

"What's wrong?" Tim asked slipping his arms around his husband from behind and resting his chin on Hadrian's shoulder.

"How many days have we turned back this month?" Hadrian asked.

Tim thought back and calculated. "Quite a lot more than normal. Ten or eleven whole days, plus a couple of times we've turned back an hour or three, why?"

Hadrian frowned. "Then this was due ten or eleven days ago," he said, showing Tim the potion.

"Your birth control potion?" Tim asked.

"Yeah!" Hadrian confirmed.

"It might not be too late, it took nearly a year of unprotected sex to fall pregnant last time," Tim tried to reassure him. "Will the potion harm you or the baby if you take it and you're already pregnant?"

"I don't know. I'll schedule an appointment with Healer Roberts as soon as possible," Hadrian said.

"Let me know when it is and I'll try to come with you," Tim said, leaning down to kiss Hadrian's neck.

Hadrian lilted his head to give Tim better access, moaning as he hit that special spot that seemed to be directly connected to his groin. He could feel Tim's arousal through their loose sleep pants pressing into his bum.

"Tim, we can't take the risk!" Hadrian moaned.

"I can't take you but you can take me," Tim said thrusting against him.

Hadrian spun around and kissed Tim passionately, he ran his hands down Tim's back and into his sleep pants squeezing the globes of his bum.

Tim moved his hands between them untying both their pants moving back a little without breaking the kiss, to let them fall to their feet.

Hadrian pulled him back in running a finger along Tim's crack, casting a lubricating spell before working one finger inside. He used the other hand to lift Tim's leg and wrap it around his waist. Tim wrapped his arms around Hadrian's shoulders. "Cast a feather weight charm on me," he murmured.

Hadrian cast the charm and Tim lifted his other leg as well letting Hadrian take his diminished weight as Hadrian took a couple of steps so he could brace Tim against the wall.

Two fingers quickly became three then Hadrian removed them and carefully lined himself up before lowering Tim onto his erection. He began rocking his hips, easily lifting and lowering Tim's lightened body as Tim arched his back so Hadrian was stimulating his prostate with every thrust.

"Oh God, so good!" Tim moaned.

"Merlin, you're so tight, so hot!" Hadrian grunted.

Tim came with a loud cry, dragging Hadrian over the edge with him. After resting against Tim as he caught his breath for a moment he kicked his sleep pants off his ankles and used wandless magic to start the shower, carrying Tim into shower stall before lowering him carefully to his feet and holding him until he got his balance.

Tim gave him a dopey grin as Hadrian started washing his hair. "I love you," he said.

Hadrian smiled widely "I love you."

Before they could get lost in another round of passionate lovemaking they were interrupted by Teddy banging on the door wanting his parents' attention.

Tim and Hadrian laughed ruefully and Hadrian quickly spelled himself dry and pulled on some pants before leaving the bathroom and scooping up Teddy.

-o0o-

Healer Roberts managed to fit Hadrian in that afternoon and Tim hadn't caught a case and was able to accompany him.

Hadrian explained the situation and the healer was easily able to confirm that Hadrian was not pregnant.

"I am concerned with how often you are using your time turner," Healer Roberts said.

"It was extenuating circumstances. I had business in London three weekends in a row and cases here in DC and LA. The problem in London is sorted and it's rare for me to have back to back cases like that. It won't be this bad again for a while,"

"That's the problem, it won't be this bad again for a while!" Healer Roberts ranted. "Please tell me that at least you're not letting Teddy and Rosie use the time turner?"

"No of course not. You told me it wasn't safe for them," Hadrian replied. "We mostly use it so we can spend time with them when we get busy with cases.

Healer Roberts' frown softened, he had no doubts the two men in front of him were very good and conscientious parents in spite of their important jobs keeping the country safe. He couldn't fault them for their motives.

"No more than one day a week, and you stop entirely when you start trying to fall pregnant again!" Healer Roberts demanded.

"I used the time turner at least once a week for the first couple of months I was pregnant with Rosie," Hadrian replied anxiously. Tim also looked panicked.

"And you got lucky that she has no side effects from it," Healer Roberts reassured them. "That doesn't mean you should knowingly take the risk again with your next child."

"I won't!" Hadrian promised earnestly.

-o0o-

That night Tim walked into the bedroom to find Hadrian sitting on the window seat looking out while fiddling with a potions vial in his hands.

"What are you thinking about so hard?" Tim asked wrapping his arms around his husband and stooping to kiss his temple.

Hadrian blushed and dipped his head.

"What is it Hades, you can tell me," Tim encouraged gently moving to sit beside Hadrian on the window seat and taking both his hands in his. It was then that he realised the vial Hadrian had been fidgeting with was his birth control potion.

"Were you disappointed when Healer Roberts told you that you weren't pregnant?" Tim asked softly.

Hadrian looked up at Tim's face searchingly. "Were you?" he asked hopefully.

"Surprisingly, yes. I know we talked about waiting and that it's the sensible thing to do. And if you want to wait I'm fine with it, but in that moment part of me was disappointed there wasn't a new baby growing, I knew it was unlikely and I didn't realise until we found out you weren't that I'd been hoping you were," Tim struggled to explain himself without feeling that he was putting pressure on his husband one way or the other. Tim was extremely glad that bearing their children did not fall on him, and he was prepared to let Hadrian make the decision when and if he was ready to fall pregnant again.

"Me too," Hadrian said sadly.

"Do you want to try for a baby now?" Tim asked.

"Yes," Hadrian replied honestly. "But Healer Roberts wants me to wait another six months or more."

Tim looked alarmed and Hadrian hastened to reassure him. "There's nothing wrong, Healer Roberts says I've recovered fully from Rosie's pregnancy and birth, he just says it will put less strain on my body and my magic if I wait at least twelve months between pregnancies."

"Then I have to be glad you're not pregnant," Tim said. "We are both really emotional about this at the moment feeling like we've lost something precious, but we haven't. We will have another baby when we are ready. Let's shelve the discussion for another six months and talk about it then, I know we planned to wait at least two years but we don't have to if we still feel this way after Rosie's birthday." He wrapped his arms around his husband holding him securely to his chest.

Hadrian nodded, "When I bathed Rosie and put her to bed tonight I thought to myself that I really am not ready for her not to be our baby yet, she's so little still, but I feel so empty. I thought I was pregnant and I didn't think I was happy about it until I found out I wasn't pregnant after all and felt… the loss of a dream, I guess."

"I don't want you to risk your health Hades, I need you to be here with me living your life to the full for a very long time yet. Take the potion sweetheart, please. I promise that dream will come true for you, for us, when it's not going to put you at risk," Tim begged.

Hadrian grinned sadly and saluted Tim with the potion as if making a toast before slugging it back with a grimace. "I'm going to be here loving you forever, even when I have to carry you up the stairs to bed because you can't climb them anymore," he said teasingly.

Tim laughed. "If I can't climb the stairs we'll remodel the house to move our bedroom to the ground floor. I'm not having you put your back out trying to carry me upstairs."

"I can certainly think of better ways for you to put my back out," Hadrian said, leering in an overexaggerated way that made Tim giggle.

"Let's go to bed, I want to hold you," Tim said.

"Sounds good," Hadrian agreed slipping on his pyjamas. They cuddled up in the centre of the bed taking comfort from each other for hours until they finally fell asleep.

The alarm went off before either of them were ready for it next morning.

"This is the first day in months we've been woken by the alarm. Do you think the kids are okay?" Tim asked anxiously as he leapt from the bed.

"Yeah I think Tollie knew we needed the extra sleep this morning," Hadrian said joining him. They checked the children's bedrooms, finding them both empty before hurrying downstairs and following the sound of voices into the dining room. The children both looked up and smiled at their parents and two adult breakfasts popped into existence in their usual spots on the table.

"Thank you," Hadrian and Tim called out to the invisible elves that had made and delivered their meals.

"Do you want me to take a personal day? To be with you today?" Tim offered.

Hadrian smiled. "Thanks for the offer but I think I want to go in to work myself today and get my mind off it."

Tim smiled and took his hand. "I understand. Call me if you need me and I'll come. Even if I have to use the time turner to be there for you."

"I will," Hadrian replied gratefully.

-o0o-

Hadrian was glad to get to work and he begged Clancy for something to do. A local case to help out with or anything. Clancy sent him over to Auror Fox's team who were investigating a series of burglaries on non-magical homes that looked like they may have a magical involvement.

"Well it's not your usual thing," Auror Fox said.

"You're in charge, tell me what I can do to help," Hadrian replied.

"This is the case that made the police think magic might have been used. There was no sign of a break in, they had a top of the line alarm which should have alerted security and it was set but the alarm sensors malfunctioned and the neighbours' security cameras which should have caught them coming or going shows nothing. They could have apparated into the building bypassing the camera's locks and door and window sensors and then disabled the motion sensors but to do that they would've had to know they were there," Fox said.

"So, we are looking for a witch or wizard that's been into the house before," Hadrian said. "Is there a way to tell which of their friends or acquaintances is magical?"

"No easy way, we've set alert ward up in case they return to the scene of the crime and we're comparing employees and work colleagues with wizarding school records but so far we've come up empty."

"Have you screened the children's friends and their parents and the neighbours?" Hadrian asked, thinking of the people who visited his own home.

"Can you recognise a witch or wizard's aura?" Fox asked.

"I can cast a mage sight charm on my glasses which will do that," Hadrian replied.

"I hadn't thought of that. I'll send you out with Trainee Auror Caddie here to canvass the neighbourhood. You won't meet all the adults at this time of day but accept any invitations you get to come in and tell them about the crime, maybe you'll notice a charmed or enchanted object."

"Or wards on the house itself," Hadrian agreed.

"If we're lucky, not all wizards ward their homes if they live in a non-magical neighbourhood, particularly a nice secure neighbourhood like this," Caddie replied.

"Thieves would ward their houses," Hadrian said.

"Unless they're afraid of drawing attention to themselves," Caddie argued.

"Then they'll have low key wards on the inside of the house but a thief knows how easy it is to break into a house. They'd secure their own as well as they could whether they're storing the stolen goods on their property or not."

Hadrian and Caddie walked around the area knocking on doors.

"Why don't we cast a magic detection charm?" Caddie asked.

"And announce what we're looking for? We may have to but it's better to try this way first. There're wards on the next house, quite a lot of them too," Hadrian said.

"What wards?" Caddie asked.

"From what I can see it's warded against portkey and apparition, fire, pest control, and intent wards and a werewolf ward. Not quite a full war ward package but more than a normal wizarding house in peacetime. The back shed has even more wards," Hadrian said.

"One of the family could be a werewolf who spends the full moon in the back shed?" Caddie said uninterestedly.

"No the house isn't just warded against a transformed werewolf but Lycanthropy in total. Those wards are illegal on a business premises but I'm not sure about the legality on a private home."

"They're frowned upon but not illegal," Caddie replied. "Were these the type of wards you were looking for?"

"Well they would make burgling that house very difficult, it's worth a second look," Hadrian said stepping closer.

"Wouldn't any wizard put up wards like that in this area after all the burglaries recently?" Caddie asked.

"Yes, that's the problem with investigating like this, but these wards aren't new. The werewolf ward is the most recent. It is professional level work, but the anti-apparition ward shows signs of wear, it will need to be replaced in the next year or so. I wonder why they didn't redo it when they added the new wards."

"You know a lot about wards," Caddie said.

"I had to learn, I could cast most of these but my expertise is finding the weak spot so I can bring them down quickly, I could have that anti apparition ward down within five minutes, less if I wasn't trying not to let the occupants know," Hadrian said. "Let's call in a result and keep moving, I don't think this is exactly what we're looking for."

"Why not, you said we're looking for wards that aren't a reaction to the recent robberies, and you said these aren't?" Caddie asked belligerently.

"Because we are looking for someone with strong anti-theft wards. These aren't," Hadrian said. "I'm not totally discounting them, Clancy and the team will look into the background of the owners because they're magical but we need to keep looking."

Two blocks later he found another house of interest and stopped again. "There aren't wards on this house," Caddie said.

"There are, anti-apparition and portkey out around all three of these houses which is illegal unless whoever set them owns all three houses and there's a secondary layer inside that room upstairs on the left. There is something illegal happening in that room," Hadrian replied pulling out his phone and calling it in.

He cast his most powerful homenum revelio, discovered that nobody was home and set up surveillance charms, before disillusioning himself and finding a secluded spot to keep watch.

"Why stay and watch if we have the charms in place?" Caddie asked.

"The charms only alert us to magical people," Hadrian said sighing. He cursed Auror Fox sending him out with the trainee Auror.

Eventually people returned home and Hadrian informed his superiors, Auror Fox arrived and relieved Auror Caddie who he ordered back to the office to write up her report on the day's investigation. She left with a pout.

"She has a lot to learn," Hadrian said, as they waited for backup. "I'm afraid I was a little short with her. A personal issue affected my patience today more than it should."

"I'm sure you weren't any worse than any of my other Aurors would've been. She has a lot more to learn than she realises and her attitude is grating on all of us," Fox replied, "I'd apologise for sticking you with her all day but quite frankly my team needed the break. She takes most of their correction as being hazing and her refusal to learn is frustrating them no end."

"Is she fully qualified or is this a work placement?" Hadrian asked.

"Work placement, only for another four weeks thank heavens and the way she's going she isn't going to pass it," Fox replied. "Can I ask you what she should have learnt from you today?"

"The spell to cast a mage sight mimic on a pair of glasses, to look at the age, strength and condition of wards when considering their purpose, to examine the entire neighbourhood instead of taking the first possible result and the fact that surveillance charms need to be backed up with human surveillance, and to stand still and silent when on watch, I had to cast silencing charms on her feet her clothing and I'm afraid I eventually silenced her voice and cast an impedimentia to keep her still." Hadrian listed.

"Fox grinned, "At least you didn't stun her, she had some hope of learning something if she remained conscious."

The magical swat team arrived and surrounded the property. Hadrian cast his own anti apparition and portkey wards to prevent the occupants from escaping and they stormed the house. The magical occupants put up only a minor resistance but the muggle shot at and injured one of the SWAT members before being taken down. Some of the objects from the most recent robbery were found but the majority of the stolen property was not recovered."

"Thanks for your help today Black," Auror Fox said formally as Hadrian handed in his report.

"You're welcome, glad I could be of some use, it's good to spend some time in the field maintaining my skills, and I really needed something to get myself out of my head for a while," Hadrian said.

"Glad to help anytime," Fox said cheerfully.

Auror Fox read Hadrian's report, comparing it to Trainee Auror Caddie's, and listened to a couple of sections of the audio recording from their time in the field, before sighing and calling the young trainee into her office.

"What did you learn today?" Auror Fox asked.

"Not a lot, honestly, I would have learned a lot more if I'd stayed to help with the raid, why'd you send me out with him. He doesn't even have his own permanent job, something must be wrong with his work to still be a TAD at his age…"

"So, you decided at the start of the day that Senior Auror Black had nothing to teach you?" Auror Fox asked severely. "Based solely on the fact that he was free to help out today?"

Caddie didn't recognise the danger in her supervisor's voice and expression. "Senior Auror," she scoffed, "he's not old enough to be a senior Auror."

"You are aware that the more magical power someone has the slower they age?" Auror Fox asked.

"Senior Auror Black has more power than any Auror I've ever seen though he isn't arrogant or flashy about it and he's also the most decorated Auror in this office for his work in his home country, he is also hopefully one of the few Aurors you'll ever have the opportunity to work with, that has worked extensively in a war zone, he had a lot to teach you, in fact every other person who worked with him today learnt something and was grateful for the opportunity, myself included. So, I ask you again, what did you learn today?"

Caddie wracked her brain for an answer, "Seriously Fox, he used a charm on his glasses but he didn't stop to teach it to me or cast it on mine, and we walked around the neighbourhood. He rejected the first magical house we found because he said the wards were wrong and too old but without the charm I couldn't see them to tell what he was talking about. Then we found the right house and he could feel wards I couldn't feel, and we set up surveillance. I did learn that non-magical people don't set off the normal surveillance wards so if you're looking for someone without magic you have to watch the premises though he could have set up movement detection wards instead."

Fox sighed, "You were standing next to him when he explained the charm he cast on his glasses, if I called Davis and Becker in now they would tell you that they both learned the charm from his explanations this morning. If you asked, I'm sure he would have shown it to you again, he probably didn't realise you weren't capable of learning a new spell that easily. And you also should have learned that surveillance requires more than a basic disillusionment spell, if you truly wish to remain undetected you need to be silent and still, a fact Senior Auror Black reminded you of several times before casting the spells to keep you from giving the two of you away to anyone watching."

He had no right to attack me like that!" Caddie declared.

"He was the senior Auror on scene and he had every right if he found it necessary to achieve the mission. According to Senior Auror Black you neglected to cast silencing charms on your feet and clothing which should be standard practice every time you cast the disillusionment charm, and were then physically incapable of remaining still and keeping your voice down. You're lucky that he didn't send you back to the office with an official reprimand. As for wanting to stay to observe the raid you have yet to demonstrate the knowledge of procedure and the ability to follow commands that would make you anything other than a liability in a situation like that, to me or to Senior Auror Black. We simply didn't have the extra manpower required to hold your hand and keep you safe during the raid," Auror Fox lectured. "If today had been your end of placement assessment you would have failed miserably. You need to think through what you should have learned today and apply it from now on or you will be going back to the academy to repeat the year."

Caddie flushed in anger but managed to bite her tongue.

-o0o-

Hadrian rang Tim as he left the Auror office, much more cheerful than he had been that morning. "I'm in the mood for pizza," he said as soon as Tim answered.

Tim laughed, "Sounds good, do you want me to pick it up on my way home, I should be leaving soon." He looked at Gibbs who nodded and made a shooing motion at all of them.

"Get out of here," he barked.

"Thanks Boss," Tony said hustling out of the bullpen. "Hey we should go out tonight, who's in?"

"I can't tonight Tony," Tim replied. "I need to get home to Hades."

"Come on! You go home every night. Ask him to join us if you have to," Tony cajoled.

"No Tony not tonight." Tim replied tensely.

"Something wrong at home? You and Hades have a fight? 'Cause he didn't sound like he's still riled up at you," Tony said.

"No we didn't fight, Tony," Tim said irritated.

"Then what is wrong in paradise? You can tell uncle Tony," Tony said wrapping an arm around Tim almost condescendingly.

"Yeah, because you have so much experience with a successful marriage," Tim said sarcastically.

Gibbs walked up and slapped both of them on the back of their heads. "Get out of here before I find you both some work to do," he ordered.

Tim hurried to his car and took off before Tony could corner him again.

"Did Tim confide in you? Is he having problems at home?" Tony asked.

"He didn't say anything, but he hasn't been himself today," Ziva said. "He will tell us when he is ready to talk."

An hour later Tim arrived home with the pizza, Hadrian already had both children fed and bathed ready for last cuddles and bedtime kisses. He was sitting in Teddy's room reading to them.

Tollie told Tim where they were and he abandoned the pizza on the hall table and ran upstairs to join in.

"They had a busy day and were starting to get tired and cranky," Hadrian said apologetically.

"That's okay," Tim said sliding onto the bed beside Teddy and hugging him as Hadrian continued to read. Teddy was soon asleep and Tim slid out of the bed and tucked the little boy in, kissing his forehead.

Hadrian handed Rosie to Tim to take and put to bed. Tim cuddled his daughter and tucked her into her cot, before joining Hadrian who was watching in the doorway. He wrapped his arms around his husband, resting his head on top of Hadrian's.

"I love you," Tim said softly.

"I love you," Hadrian replied. His stomach chose that moment to rumble, making them both laugh.

"I left the pizza downstairs, go get into bed and I'll bring it up," Tim suggested.

Hadrian stripped off, pulling on his pyjamas and laying out Tim's, he cast the one way silencing charms on the room and pulled the quilt back and sat against the headboard crossing his legs.

Tim laid the pizza on the bed and Hadrian absent-mindedly cast warming charms on it while he enjoyed watching his husband strip.

"You keep looking at me like that and you're not going to get to eat," Tim warned playfully.

Hadrian laughed. "Did you eat lunch?" he asked.

"I had a nutter butter, we were busy chasing down a lead on a cold case," Tim replied.

"In that case pizza before sex," Hadrian said trying to sound severe. "I need you to keep your energy up," he added smirking.

Ignoring the pizza box Tim leaned across and started tickling the smaller man.

"No no no," Hadrian yelped.

"I think it's you that's going to need your energy," Tim said finally taking pity on him and sitting back watching as Hadrian tried to catch his breath. He handed him a slice of pizza before helping himself.

A/N: Thank you to sandipi, DullReign82, knuckles 8, Kourtney Uzu Yato, lilly-flower15, Reader Ethiriel, KEZZ 1, starie78, charm13insomnia, DarkRavie, Melikalilly, mumimeanjudy, Firehedgehog, Kaorilamb, Gime'SS, buterflypuss, xDarklightx, K'VIN, jayswing96, Rori Potter, Venus914, Gottahavemyncis, madnessdownunder2, delia cerrano, Fallow54 (Guest), acherongoddess, DS2010, Silvermane1, SpiritBlackPaw, loonygoody, jazocoti, TruGemini, Serpent91, kimbarn30, serenityselena, Barzallai, staar (Guest), Maben00, Rikaeus, Guest, titesacra, Elllaine, NymphadoraBlackMalfoy, Madame Red Rose, Barzallai, yaoifangirl1000, Ellelya, swaggerprincess, SILVERFOX KTREVA, fan-de-series, glrt, sandivivaelanime, SpiritTrainer, Noni2674, Meiko47, Maniaregale, Silver Flair, marsy-cat, NeoSoul27, thescribe00, Magda-666, jacketqueen, Nazlican0462, paula23l, ShiroIcez25, sukgarg, nany hell, queen-at-d-throne, Emrysnayer, storm-lighting-wolf-starlight, StoryLover1701, vampires are awesome, Jalfa2, troubledsoul87, TheFangirlChey, neverfound29, GoldenTurboKeyblade, XSlashluver26, kyubifreak, Selzah, hope88, Taly-chan, alaison, GrandAdmiralLove, wechard, LoVeInVaInTrYsTiLl, mcmouse-au, silentprotector, wileycoyote, OrchardMonet0822, gaylarain, woezz and Erielaw for your support.


	63. Chapter 63

Chapter 63

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or NCIS or any of their characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do **NOT** give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

Life settled back to normal and the regrets Hadrian and Tim had about not expecting a new baby started to fade as they took the time to cherish the children they had. Cases came and went, the ex-death-eaters remained in hiding, though Hadrian did manage to flush one out in a small town on the South Island of New Zealand. He'd been found by an accidental run in with a British tourist, which had turned violent when the tourist recognised him. He'd managed to get word out before being hunted down and slaughtered. Hadrian arrived in full disguise to help investigate the death of Michael Corner's little brother.

It didn't take all that long to solve the case after Hadrian recognised the Death Eater as Mulciber Junior but the local police were astounded, the killer had seemed to be a model citizen, volunteering at the local hospital and living a peaceful law-abiding life. There was no evidence to tie him to the current crime and the local New Zealand Aurors protested against extraditing him for trial.

"Just let me question him under veritaserum," Hadrian said frustrated.

"We cannot. There's no evidence that he's done anything wrong," The local Chief Auror declared.

"The mark on his arm is evidence of his belonging to a terrorist organization," Hadrian said.

"Not in this country it isn't," the Auror argued. "James Mullens is a friend of mine and I will not let you ignore due process. If you're right and he's committed a crime before emigrating to my country then you need to prove it legally."

"And your victim's brother is a friend of mine, he deserves justice. What if I told you that we have incontrovertible proof that the only way to earn that mark is the torture and murder of an innocent," Hadrian said scowling.

The Auror looked sick, "Define innocent," he demanded.

"Usually a child under the age of fifteen or a virgin," Hadrian said seriously.

"Can you prove this is not just a tattoo?" the Auror asked sceptically.

"A tattoo of a snake cannot speak, I can wake the snake in the mark to speak to me and follow my orders, it will hurt him but it will provide proof. I could order the snake to make him ill to inflict pain similar to the Cruciatus and to kill the bearer. I could also use it to summon another death eater but considering that they would know it was me and not their leader calling them, they'd probably arrive casting killing curses."

"So, you can prove it by torturing him. That's not acceptable!" The Chief said dismissively.

"If I'm wrong and he isn't a death eater then nothing will happen, he will only feel pain if he's guilty of torture and murder," Hadrian said. "You could offer him the choice between willingly taking Veritaserum and letting me talk to his tattoo."

"Did they all take the mark willingly?" one of the junior Aurors asked.

"He had to agree to take it. The mark connects to the bearer's magical core in a way that it could not do without being accepted freely," Hadrian replied. "That doesn't mean that they didn't have some ulterior motive for wanting the mark but I guarantee he wanted it on some level, otherwise it wouldn't latch onto his magic. If he only took the mark to protect someone else then that will be taken into account during his trial."

"Okay offer the man a choice he takes the Veritaserum or we send in a parselmouth to talk to the tattoo on his arm, see if you can find another Parselmouth to do it," the chief decided.

"You don't trust this Auror Black, Boss?" the probationary auror asked.

"James Mullens is a friend of mine, I don't want him railroaded into an admission for crimes he didn't commit," the Chief replied.

Hadrian winced and pulled out his phone to call Sir Geoffrey.

"Hadrian, what can I do for you?" Sir Geoffrey asked.

"I've located Mulciber Jr in New Zealand, but apparently he's been pretending to be a model citizen for the last five years and is friends with the chief Auror and the Chief's being obstructive," Hadrian replied.

"Keep your calm and keep working on it, make sure he isn't released, and I'll start working along official channels to get Mulciber extradited," Sir Geoffrey replied.

Hadrian waited patiently while another Parselmouth was located and brought to the station, he was quite willing to let the locals waste their time so long as Mulciber remained in custody. They only difference of opinion occurred when he had to insist that Mulciber be accompanied to the toilet. His friend wanted to trust him.

"Chief, we already know that the man you call James Mullens is Jasper Mulciber, a wanted terrorist in the United Kingdom. Aiding or abetting his escape would cause an international incident and you would be charged," Hadrian said calmly.

"That is ridiculous, James Mullens has been a law-abiding citizen, a pillar of our community for years," the local chief Auror objected.

"But before that he was a terrorist and a death eater, if he is truly remorseful for his previous actions, then that will be taken into account during sentencing. And if you're right and I'm making a mistake then he has no reason to try to escape so having him supervised as per the protocol will not matter to him. But failing to do that will matter to your career prospects. I do have the rank to be taken seriously if I write you up for dereliction of duty. If he's truly your friend he wouldn't want that," Hadrian reminded him.

An elderly man arrived and was greeted with respect and relief.

"What do you need a parselmouth for? I'm guessing since you're all still standing calmly on the floor that you haven't got a venomous snake on the loose," the man asked amused.

"Hello sir I'm Senior Auror Black from Britain's MI7. We have identified a former death eater terrorist. However, he's been doing a great job of lying low and the Chief wants proof before he allows me to question him under veritaserum or extradite him. The dark mark on his arm will respond to certain phrases in Parseltongue. The easiest and safest of these would be 'pain'. It would prove that it is a genuine dark mark and not just an extremely poor taste tattoo," Hadrian explained.

The amusement faded quickly and before the local aurors could react he walked into the interrogation room touched the mark and said the word pain. Mulciber collapsed to his knees screaming.

"How do I stop it?" he asked after he took his hand away and the suspect kept screaming.

"Walk away and stop thinking about him. Want it to stop. Your anger is fuelling the reaction," Hadrian said, he turned to the chief. "Do you want us to question him about the death of your tourist so you can close the case, before we extradite him?"

"Yes," Chief Auror said sighing.

Hadrian administered the Veritaserum and quickly obtained a confession for the murder in question and two other deaths in the last few years which had previously been ruled to be accidents along with a long list of crimes committed in the service of Voldemort.

The Chief Auror approached Hadrian, "I'm sorry… I had no idea…"

"It's okay, of course you wanted to believe your friend was innocent and he's a very good actor," Hadrian said.

"Did he really think he could mask his reaction to the pain in his mark?" a junior officer asked.

"No he was probably betting on you not being able to bring in a parselmouth, they're incredibly rare in Britain, or at least people who admit they are parselmouths are extremely rare since Slytherin and Voldemort have given them such a bad reputation," Hadrian explained. "He thought it was an empty threat to convince him to agree to the veritaserum."

He transfigured the man into a chess piece and put him into the set removing and undoing the transfiguration on the piece he replaced before using it as a portkey.

"Is that allowed?" the chief asked, shocked.

"Yes. It's a secure way to transport a prisoner. It doesn't harm him in any way, if fact I'm almost jealous. He isn't going to even notice the portkey ride to Britain. I'd happily pay someone I trusted to transfigure me into an inanimate object for the portkey ride and transfigure me back when we got there."

"Most people catch a plane if their going further than Australia," one of the junior Aurors said.

"With good reason, the trip to London will be almost 40 minutes long," the Chief said shuddering.

"I have the authority to invite you to come and watch the trial. It will be a closed trial and kept out of the media," Hadrian offered.

"No thank you, what sentence is he likely to get?" the chief asked.

Hadrian sighed, "He killed more than a dozen people and was involved in torturing dozens more. And the fact that he killed three people in the last four years makes a mockery of any claims of remorse. If let go he will kill again if it becomes convenient. He will be permanently incarcerated," Hadrian said. In truth the testimony given under veritaserum signed by the four witnesses, the evidence they already had and the active dark mark would be enough for the trial to occur without input from Mulciber and the transfigured chess piece would be destroyed as it was. The man had essentially already taken his last breath unless the courts wanted to question him further.

-o0o-

Hadrian arrived home and collapsed on the bed. "I hate portkeys," he muttered before falling into a deep sleep. He awoke eleven hours later to find Tim sitting on the side of the bed watching him anxiously.

"What is it?" he asked concerned.

"Oh, thank God you're awake. I was starting to worry, I need to get to work."

Hadrian looked at the clock. "I'll apparate you to the Navy yard so you won't be late," he offered getting up. "Do you have everything?"

"If you're going to apparate me then we have time for you to eat breakfast first," Tim said determinedly.

"Or shower, I definitely need a shower," Hadrian said looking down at his worn and rumpled clothes and hurrying to the bathroom.

When he reappeared ten minutes later naked except for the towel drying his hair, Tim had breakfast laid out for him on a tray on the bed.

Hadrian's stomach rumbled and he sat down to eat before getting dressed.

"Rough case?" Tim asked sympathetically.

"No not really, it was just portkeying from New Zealand to London and then London to here an hour later that was a bit much. We caught him easily enough, the problem was convincing the chief auror that his friend could be the monster I was describing," Hadrian replied.

"That's got to be rough," Tim commiserated.

"Yeah, it's hard to have to accept that your friends aren't the friends you always thought they were," Hadrian agreed, thinking of the Weasleys and Tim's friendship with Abby.

"How many more Death eaters are out there?" Tim asked.

"Less than twenty," Hadrian said smiling at the achievement.

"What happens with your job when they're all caught?" Tim asked.

"I have a choice to make, Sir Geoffrey wants me to stay here as the British liaison and Clancy has assured me that he'd hire me directly if Sir Geoffrey changes his mind. Kingsley hoped at first that I'd return to Britain when all the death eaters were caught and help drag the British Aurors into the twenty-first century, but he'll be happy enough if I agree to do some seminars and workshops teaching the Auror corps and the cadets some of the techniques the Americans use and the British don't. Most of those are muggle techniques so you could come and help teach with me."

"It might be fun, if you can get the Director to let me go. I wouldn't want to waste vacation time on it though," Tim replied.

-o0o-

Six months passed rapidly before Hadrian and Tim could organise those classes, and Rosie was about to turn one. The boys had planned a big open house type party for Rosie's first birthday, inviting both their teams, as well as Kingsley, Sir Geoffrey, Neville and Hannah, and Ron and Hermione (warning them that the majority of the party guests would be muggles, and that Kingsley was going to obliviate the location of the party from Hannah, Ron and Hermione when they returned home,) They also invited some of the friends they'd made locally and Teddy's two best friends to keep him company.

Neville and Hannah left Franklin with Hannah's best friend and the child's godmother Susan for the weekend not wanting to risk him accidently giving away Harry's location or having him obliviated. Their new baby was too young for the portkey but Harry sent Neville the name of an elf that knew their location that could pop him to them once they arrived.

The British guests arrived the night before and were taken directly to their rooms to recover from the portkey.

"It's 1700 here, I know you've had dinner at home but there's food under a stasis charm if you feel hungry later. There's also some sleeping draughts to help you sleep through the night and reset your body clock," Hadrian said.

"I'm never going to want to eat again," Hannah moaned.

"I felt like that when we portkeyed to London, it will pass and you will be starving in about an hour," Tim said sympathetically. "I can't believe Hades used to do this at least twice a week."

Hannah literally shuddered, "How on earth? What could be so important that he'd put himself through that?"

"Visiting Teddy when he lived with his grandmother," Hadrian replied.

"I think I'll come the muggle way next time," Neville said.

"Why can't we travel with the elves like Franklin did, he's fine?" Hannah asked.

"Unfortunately, they don't have enough magic to pop an adult that distance, Tollie is already starting to struggle to pop Teddy that far, she told us last time we went that she wasn't sure she could do it again if he grew much more so he's going to have to portkey next time we come. Unless we stop in Hawaii and use a second elf to transport him the rest of the way."

"Hannah and I have decided that we'd like you both to be Ellison's godfathers. We were planning the ceremony for two weeks from tomorrow," Neville said.

"We would be honoured," Hadrian agreed smiling.

"Thank you," Tim replied, surprised and pleased to be included.

"Will you be able to get the time off work to come?" Neville asked.

"We have a time turner, if he can't get the weekend off we'll make time," Hadrian said.

Neville smiled, "Then feel free to stay a week or two," he invited.

Tim showed them how to work the lights and the bathroom taps, toilet and fan. Hadrian told them the name of the elf he'd allocated to look after them and reminded them that unless they recognised them they should assume every person they met was non-magical and didn't know about magic."

"This is much nicer than the beach house?" Hannah said looking around once they were alone and she began to feel better.

"This is the house they live in full time. It is comfortable, I don't think this is where they got married though," Neville agreed going to the window to look out.

"It's warm out" he said reclosing the window, "They must have cooling charms."

"If it's this warm here in the spring, they hardly need a beach house as well," Hannah said.

-o0o-

Ron and Hermione had left Rose at home with Molly, eager for some time away from the baby. Hermione was sure that Molly had a fair suspicion where they were going but because Kingsley and Robbards were in charge of the portkey there was nothing she could do about it and they'd refused to take the care package Molly had made, leaving it in Kingsley's care to be analysed for potions.

Things had got better for Hermione since she and Ron had performed the ritual. She'd gone back to work at the ministry and though she worked long hours sometimes it was doing work she found interesting and was passionate about. Ron wasn't happy with the pay cut the twins had given him when Hermione was no longer making the potions for them and had quit. He had found a job looking after the quidditch pitch of his beloved Chuddleigh Cannons and though it only paid a pittance the perks included tickets to every game played on the pitch. He spent most of the week at home looking after Rosie. Hermione had demanded that if he was going to be home all day while she was working he needed to learn to keep the house tidy and do the laundry and cooking. After much complaining he found that he quite enjoyed cooking and being less distracted than Hermione had been the quality of meals had improved slightly. Of course, Molly was horrified with this idea and frequently popped in with a meal for them, and tried to get Ron to leave Rose with her while he went out and caught up with friends or looked for work. At first, Ron had been thrilled with this, escaping to the Leaky Cauldron to talk quidditch with whoever would listen but Hermione had made it clear that she would not consider having another child while Ron was abandoning the child they did have to hang out in the pub. He resented the fact that he had to turn down his mother's help and had tried to take Rose with him to the pub a couple of times but found people were less willing to while away hours talking to a man with a grizzly baby. Grudgingly he started to look after his daughter properly and soon found ways to have fun with her. He purchased Rose a toddler broom for her birthday and taught her to ride, Rose also loved flying with Ron, strapped to his chest, so they spent hours doing that too, using the Cannon's pitch when it wasn't in use. As a result, the Cannon's manager thought Ron was one of the best pitch caretakers they'd ever had. He was there when things were delivered, he was there to notice when the muggle repelling charms failed and muggle children started to use the pitch to kick a ball on, so they could be repaired before game day caused a major incident for the obliviators.

Ron and Hermione were both happier than they had been before doing the ritual to add more vows to their marriage, it didn't stop Ron from resenting Harry at times for interfering. Seeing the opulent home he lived in also caused some jealousy though the house wasn't grand and formal like a pureblood manor house.

"It's 1700 here, I know you've had dinner at home but there's food under a stasis charm if you feel hungry later. There's also some sleeping draughts to help you sleep through the night and reset your body clock," Hadrian said.

"Wicked, thanks Harry," Ron said, headed eagerly for the food while Hermione frowned in thought trying to use the time difference to work out where they were.

"I'll save you the investigating, Hermione. We are in Maryland USA, about 50 minutes drive from the capitol. This is where we live. Information that I will not allow you to be able to share when returning home," Hadrian told her.

"That's fine Harry. Ginny is still stupidly obsessed, I wouldn't want it to be my fault if she finds you, the other boys and Arthur have woken up to her manipulations and are happy that you've married and made a life for yourself." Hermione admitted.

"And Molly?" Hadrian asked.

"Accepts that you're never coming back to Ginny but doesn't accept your marriage to a man, particularly a man she's never met," Hermione said dryly.

"She was hurt that you didn't invite her to the wedding," Ron added.

"She would have tried to prevent it," Hadrian said bluntly. "I'll see you in the morning."

-o0o-

Kingsley and Sir Geoffrey settled into their rooms without hassle, already knowing how to work the taps and lights. They appreciated the meals in the bedroom idea, it had been a long day and they knew the time differences were going to take some getting used to.

-o0o-

Ziva arrived early next morning eager to help Hadrian with the catering and also secretly curious about the house. She'd never been to visit them for some reason something always came up whenever she decided to snoop.

Hadrian identified her through the wards and went to open the door. "You didn't need to bring anything. Didn't Tim tell you we were getting the party catered?" he said as she handed over an oven tray and a cake carrier.

"He did, but one can never have too much food, and I enjoy baking," Ziva replied.

"Well thank you," Hadrian said smiling gratefully. "Do these need to go into the refrigerator. The party's going to be through here."

"No, they can go straight out on the table," Ziva replied. She looked around the decorated ballroom. "This is amazing, is it set up like this all the time?"

"As a playroom yes, the bouncy castle is hired for the party and it isn't normally so pink but most of the rest of it is the same," Hadrian said. "It's great for letting them burn off some energy when it's too cold or hot to be outdoors."

"It's a great room for a party," Ziva said.

"It's what it was built for but somehow I don't think the designer had a party like this in mind," Hadrian said amused.

Ziva glanced around at the grand old room with its fancy cornicing and pressed tin ceiling and pictured it filled with tuxedos and formal ball gowns. It would've been magnificent in its day, but this suits you and Tim better," she agreed.

He introduced Ziva to his friends and was amused as she immediately gravitated to Kingsley and Sir Geoffrey, fellow law enforcement. Gibbs and Clancy also joined them when they arrived, and were both greeted enthusiastically by the British agents who introduced the two men.

"So you're Tim's team leader? Hadrian has mentioned you," Clancy said.

"Yes, are you Hadrian's team leader?" Gibbs asked.

"No, not really, on paper I am his American department head but Hadrian is a lone agent more based in Washington than actually seconded from Britain with a very specific brief for which he actually still works for MI7. He joins whichever of my teams can use the help most when he has downtime between leads on his own case and in return I lend him agents when needed here in this country. He's developed quite a reputation and most of my teams are very pleased to have him around," Clancy said. "And having an extra agent working on Sir Geoffrey's dime does great things for my budget," he added cheekily, grinning at his counterpart.

Sir Geoffrey just smiled. "I'm grateful that your men have made him welcome, his mission is a lonely one."

-o0o-

Teddy's friends arrived next and their parents happily supervised the children in the bouncy castle. Soon the room was full of people, the only one missing was the birthday girl herself who had apparently decided she needed an extralong nap that day.

Abby hadn't been invited but Tony looked around the house curiously. The wards dissuaded him from trying to go upstairs or access the kitchen area and he was almost surprised by his lack of curiosity in not snooping. He looked around at the guests looking for someone to talk to. He could hear Ziva talking shop but wasn't in the mood to join her. There were a distinct lack of unattached females at the party, he made a mental note to complain to his probie about that later. He tried to talk to Hannah only to have her suddenly jump and tell him she had to go, her baby was awake. Tony who of course hadn't been keyed to the notification charm frowned at what he though was a rather obvious lie until Hannah came down ten minutes later with an infant in her arms and walked over to the group of law enforcement people talking to Ziva. Tony didn't feel comfortable with the idea that she'd think he was following her so headed to grab some food while he looked for someone else to talk to. He talked to Ducky and the autopsy gremlin for a while before chatting up one of the mother's of Teddy's friends. She responded enthusiastically and they moved away from the others a little to talk.

Tim saw this and decided to let it go for now, he could always warn Tony after the party if it looked like becoming more than an idle flirtation.

A/N: Thank you to lilly-flower15, Gime'SS, Kaorilamb, Vladimir Mithrander, sandipi, LunaSunFlowerLily, SpiritBlackPaw, DullReign82, Fallow54 (Guest), Firehedgehog, buterflypuss, acherongoddess, , xDarklightx, knuckles 8, Rori Potter, charm13insomnia, DS2010, Kourtney Uzu Yato, Village-Mystic, Locket1, DarkRavie, Melikalilly, EmeraldDagger, Silvermane1, MintMinYoongi02, Reader Ethiriel, Guest, serenityselena, Serpent91, rell (Guest), starie78, Red Blood Moon, staar (Guest), , Guest, Star-TrekAu09, BrothersBestFriends, TruGemini, BeautifulCherryBlossom, Merlenyn, Beth9891,

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	64. Chapter 64

Chapter 64

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or NCIS or any of their characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do **NOT** give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

Finally, the alarm charm Hadrian had on Rosie let him know that the birthday girl was awake and he signalled to Tim as he went up to collect the one year old.

Rosie was always slightly grumpy when she first woke up so Hadrian took his time changing her clothes and fed her a small bottle before bringing her down. They headed over to Tim who was now talking with Ducky and Jimmy.

"Here's the guest of honour," Ducky said cheerfully. "I hope she's not ill," he added looking at her little red cheeks.

"She's fine Ducky. She just overslept because she wouldn't go down for her nap on time," Tim said. "Teddy was excited about the party and I guess it rubbed off on her and she's been cutting teeth."

"Teddy's getting tall. Is he still enjoying kindergarten?" Ducky asked.

"He loves it but it isn't quite enough for him these days. He's ready to start school full time," Hadrian replied.

"They grow up so fast. What sport are you going to get him into for the summer?" Jimmy asked.

"I want to let him choose so there's a program that will let him try t-ball, soccer and basketball," Tim said. "He's looking forward to it. Of course, Hades wants him to play soccer."

"Football, Tim," Hadrian corrected.

"British football" Tim agreed. "If you call it football here people will think you mean American football and are a neglectful parent to be pushing such a young child into such a rough sport."

"Uncle Jimmy" Teddy yelled running over and hugging Jimmy's knees, "I didn't know you were here. Hello Grand-ducky." He transferred his hug to Ducky's knees.

"Hello Teddy" Jimmy replied, reaching over to support the older man so Teddy wouldn't knock him off his feet.

"Hello Theodore my boy," Ducky said. "You've gotten very strong, do you mind letting me go until I can sit down and give you a proper hug?"

"Sorry Grand-ducky," Teddy said, stepping back. Ducky moved to the nearest couch and took a seat. Teddy clambered up beside him and launched himself into the Medical Examiners arms chattering away excitedly about all the things that had happened in the last few days since he'd seen him. The two had formed a strong bond and Ducky tried to call in and visit the little boy who was the nearest thing he had to a grandchild at least every other week. He had even proudly gone to grandparent's day at kindergarten with Teddy and was on the approved list of adults that had permission to collect him from school, something he had done several times when Hadrian was travelling and Tim working on a case that didn't involve a body. They'd gone to Ducky's favourite Tea house for high tea and both enjoyed themselves enormously.

Jimmy was also a favourite, the M.E.'s assistant had been coming around occasionally to play with the children on his own recently as well as with Ducky. He was still really nervous around them but it was getting better.

Hadrian and Tim kept a careful eye out for accidental magic, or magical toys that had been missed in the clean up of the ground floor. It was even more important with the ever watchful eyes of Gibbs and the forever curious Tony. Hadrian wanted to avoid obliviating them for Tim's sake and considered it unfair that they were not allowed to find out about magic until a case made it inevitable, like it had with the BAU team.

Speaking of the BAU team, Hadrian headed over to where Dr Spencer Reid had just walked into the room shyly with JJ beside him looking around curiously.

"Hey I'm glad you could come," Hadrian greeted them.

"I know you said no presents but…" Spencer said handing over a brightly wrapped package the shape of a children's book.

"Thank you," Hadrian said smiling.

"May I?" JJ said holding her hands out for the baby.

"Of course. She's teething so she's a little unsettled," Hadrian warned. He noticed amused that Spencer stepped away from JJ as she took the baby.

"You don't like children?" Hadrian asked.

"It's more that they don't like me," Spencer replied. "If she's already unsettled I don't want to scare her further."

Hadrian chuckled, "Small children are empathic Spencer, they react to your fear of them. Rosie isn't going to care how fast you read or if you're good at sports or talking to women or how you're dressed. She's only going to notice whether or not you're giving her your attention and whether you're uncomfortable with her."

"Why'd you invite the Feebs?" Gibbs asked Tim.

"We invited our friends Spencer and JJ," Tim replied. "We caught up a few times since they have me a ride home that time and Hades worked a case with them fairly recently too. Besides you tend to forget because you like him and we haven't worked a case together since you met him but I married a Feeb."

Gibbs laughed. "Who's that Tony's hitting up?"

"One of Teddy's friends' moms, I guess he hasn't told her how he knows us yet, she reacted strangely when she found out we both work in law enforcement," Tim said.

"You look into it?" Gibbs asked, his gaze on the woman sharpening.

"Of course we did. Teddy think her son's one of his best friends, and doesn't understand why we don't like him going to his house to play. She came up clean but I couldn't say the same for the rest of her family. Their chauvinism has kept her out of trouble so far. That or they think she's too ditsy to be told about the family business. Her husband isn't involved either, so far as we could tell. The family didn't approve the marriage."

"Organised crime?" Gibbs asked.

"Russian mob," Tim confirmed.

"Should we warn Tony?"

"I don't know Boss, I'm kind of looking forward to watching him crash and burn when her husband arrives," Tim replied.

"She's not wearing a ring," Gibbs noticed.

"Her hands have swollen too much for them to fit, she's nearly three months pregnant," Tim said grinning.

Gibbs laughed, "Tony is slipping, normally he could pick that a mile away."

Hadrian led Spencer over to Hermione. "I'd like you to meet one of my best friends from school. Hermione, Dr Reid is the only person I've met smarter than you and Tim," he introduced causing them both to blush. "And this is Spencer's friend JJ, and of course you know Rosie."

"The birthday girl finally woke up," Hermione said making an effort to smile. She was glad to be introduced to some of Harry's friends but seeing them all and how much Harry was at home amongst them, was driving home for her how much Harry's life wasn't in England anymore.

Tim came over to greet Spencer and JJ and spoke to them for a few minutes allowing Hadrian to draw Ron away from what was likely to become an academic conversation about literature. The two ex-Gryffindors headed towards the buffet and Ron loaded up his plate as Harry quietly told him what some of the American and nonmagical foods were. "Great spread Harry," he said starting to stuff his mouth. Neville came and joined them with Hannah clinging to his arm.

"I can't even talk fashion with these people," Hannah complained. "I didn't understand a word they were saying."

Hadrian bit back a laugh. "Fashion outside the British Magical World is very different from inside it, and changes incredibly quickly," he said.

"So do I look horribly out of fashion?" Hannah asked.

"No that's a fairly classic look, which doesn't ever go totally out of style. It's a bit formal for this type of party but you look fine," Hadrian replied. "The great thing about the muggle world is that there isn't just one sort of style, the peer pressure to conform isn't universal, like our world."

"But I can't make friends with your friends if I can't talk to them," Hannah said.

"Talk to them about your children, that group over there all have children somewhere close to Franklin and Ellison's ages. Just keep in mind they don't have house elves and most of them won't have a full time nanny, many of them don't have any help at home at all," Hadrian said.

"Thanks Harry," Neville said.

"She's still going to have problems Harry, I took Rose to a playgroup like you suggested but the other Mum's were talking about TV programs their children liked and the newest fad toys," Hermione reminded him, joining them.

"Yeah I know but what can I do? She wants to talk to the other women and you and Barbara are the only witches here, if I point her in the direction of our law enforcement colleagues I'm going to end up having to obliviate someone!" Hadrian replied.

Hermione looked shocked. "I thought you said the statute of secrecy was different here?" she said.

"Yeah, different in that the magical world tries to blend in and hide in plain sight, not that everyday people are allowed to know about magic," Hadrian replied thinking hard. "Spencer and JJ know about magic and the nonmagical world because of their job, maybe they could help." He hurried over to where the two of them were still talking to Tim who had been joined by Ducky and Jimmy and drew them away.

"My friend Neville's wife has been very isolated in the magical world in England and she's over there trying to meet new people and make conversation. I wondered if JJ could do me a huge favour and go over there and help smooth over any oddities she comes out with. None of Teddy's friends' mothers have permission to know about magic and to them, and even if she manages not to say something magical, Hannah will sound like she grew up under a rock."

JJ laughed. "Smoothing things over is my specialty," she said confidently.

"She's the blonde lady in the greyish purple jacket and skirt," Hadrian replied gratefully.

"So there are no other witches here? Is that unusual?" Spencer asked.

"None other than Barbara and Hermione," Hadrian replied. "There's nothing suspicious about it. I invited the people I work with frequently but the girls couldn't come for various reasons and none of the guys bought dates. Most of our friends aren't magical other than my old school mates."

"Hermione didn't seem too different," Spencer said.

"Hermione grew up in a nonmagical home," Hadrian explained. "Her parents aren't magical so she still spends some time there, though she and Ron live and work in the magical world, so their daughter will probably grow up nearly as out of touch as Hannah is." 

"The wizards fit in better?" Spencer asked curiously.

"No, not in general. American witches and wizards fit in much better than their British counterparts because the two worlds aren't as isolated here as they are in Britain, and Kingsley and Neville have training to fit in as part of their job," Hadrian said. "Neville and Kingsley are keeping an eye on my friend Ron for me, but he's easy to manage so long as there's food around."

Spencer laughed.

"He's also interested in chess, though he's never played with a set he couldn't tell the pieces where to move," Hadrian said.

"Animated chess?" Spencer looked shocked.

"Yes, and not just to follow commands like a voice activated computer game, the pieces have personalities and a mind of their own, it takes time to train them properly. Ron's men do as he tells them but mine always used to argue and tell me what I should do instead," Hadrian said ruefully.

Spencer went off into peals of laughter, "I'd like to see that!" he said.

"Ron's always looking for new people to beat. Stay after the party quietens down and I'll set the two of you up to play," Hadrian offered.

"Thanks," Spencer said moving off to talk to several other people he'd met.

Hadrian approached Ziva who he saw was now on her own. "Hey Ziva, have you done any good cooking classes lately?" he asked.

"I went to a rather interesting Choux Pastry course last weekend we had off it was more of a refresher for me but it was fun," Ziva replied.

"So about three or four weeks ago then," Hadrian said laughing. "You've been extra busy lately."

"Yeah, Tim was beginning to worry that he wouldn't be able to get today off," Ziva replied. "What about you, have you done any classes?"

"Not really, I spent some time learning some local dishes when we were in Hawaii, but between Tim's hours and mine I haven't had many weekends free," Hadrian replied. "I don't get as much time to cook as I would like and I'm limited to what the kids will eat though they're both pretty good eaters," Hadrian said.

"I can picture that, just the cleaning and maintenance on a house like this must take up a lot of time," Ziva commented. "It's not at all the sort of place I pictured McGee living in."

"Thank heavens we have some help with that," Hadrian said, ignoring her second comment.

"Your Nanny cleans, that must cost you an absolute fortune," Ziva said.

"Yes but day care wasn't an option with both our jobs and hiring a nanny with the security clearances we wanted prevented us from considering a college student," Hadrian said. It was difficult to hide the fact that they didn't so much have a nanny/housekeeper as a staff of four house elves as well as Barbara who was their human contact for schools and kinder while they were both working. Without the elves, Hadrian and Tim would've found most of their spare time taken up cleaning and gardening and home maintenance and Quincy's maintenance charms meant that the house would always look just painted and renovated.

"I really am surprised Tim would want a house like this, in fact after seeing his apartment I'm surprised he wanted a house at all. I would have expected he would buy a condo, and a small one at that," Ziva said again.

Hadrian nodded. "It was more my choice, Tim was in hospital after being shot in the shoulder, when I found it. I wanted a yard for the kids and we needed space to have a live-in nanny without sacrificing our privacy too much. It is a bit more than we'd planned but it worked out cheaper than you might think and Tim loves it. Because he'd been brought up in Naval Base housing it hadn't occurred to him to want more than the basics."

Ziva smiled, "I'm glad," she said.

In a way, Hadrian knew Ziva was right, without the help of the house elves, there was no way he or Tim would've wanted a house like this. Neither of them really enjoyed mowing lawns, gardening or the amount of cleaning it would require with two small children. Nor did they care about the grandness of the stately old home, it was all about the privacy the grounds provided, though looking around Hadrian realised they'd got a lot more involved in the local community than either of them had expected.

Tim strapped Rosie into her high chair towards the end of the party, and they all sang happy birthday and took photos of the birthday girl in her party hat with her cake in front of her before Hadrian and Tim helped her blow out the candle and moved the cake into her reach to demolish while the slices of the second cake were passed around.

Hadrian had had to warn the house elves about the mess Rosie would make with the cake and that they needed to let her and not come in to clean up until all the guests had gone. They'd even had a bit of a practice run and taken photos in case Rosie didn't co-operate on the day, which the children had loved but gave the elves fits. It was only making it a direct order that allowed them to leave the mess alone until given permission to clean. They didn't fully calm down until the mess was gone and Hadrian and Tim had praised them for following orders so well.

Rosie had apparently learned from Teddy's help the first time round as she happily plonked both hands into the pretty little cake, smearing cake and icing all over her face, outfit and hair with the cutest grin.

Tim and Hadrian made a show of playing rock, paper, scissors for the dubious honour of being the one to take her upstairs to clean up, making their guests laugh as Hadrian lost and shouted for everyone to clear the way before he carried the messy sticky one year old at arm's length.

"Oh master Hadrian, Missy Rosie be even more messy caky than last time," Tollie said.

"She certainly had fun with it," Hadrian said laughing. "And she'll have fun with her bath while you have fun cleaning her up." He handed her over to Tollie to bath and quickly changed his shirt before returning to the party.

-o0o-

Tim approached Spencer as everyone else was leaving, "Hadrian said you were interested in his chess set," he said.

"Very interested, but I came with JJ," Spencer replied.

"JJ's welcome to stay too, since she knows about magic, or one of us could easily take you home later," Tim replied.

"Take me home with magic?" Spencer asked excitedly.

"Yeah if you want. But don't get too excited, magical travel may be more convenient but it's not pleasant, particularly for the person not in control," Tim replied amused.

JJ was curious enough to stay as well and the three of them approached Ron who was still eating cake. "Spencer and JJ know about magic because of their jobs. Spencer's a chess player and he's curious about the differences with wizard's chess. Would you like to play a couple of games?" Tim asked Ron.

"Where's Harry?" Ron asked.

"Probably in the shower after cleaning up our little cake princess," Tim said dryly.

"Couldn't he have just spelled them both clean?" JJ asked.

"Most cleaning spells that would get that amount of stickiness off are too harsh to use on babies, besides it would've been suspicious if he arrived back downstairs perfectly clean in the same clothes within seconds of going upstairs," Tim replied.

"So, magic is convenient, only when there's nobody who doesn't already know about it around?" JJ asked.

Tim laughed. "That about sums it up except for the wards. This house is 100% fireproof, water proof, rust proof, rot proof and insect proof, the only thing in it that will degrade are the electrical, telephone, TV and internet cables. It's also warded against anyone wanting to harm any of the residents or any child. Anyone wishing to harm any of us today would have suddenly remembered a more important engagement or something that prevented them from attending," Hadrian said.

"Could you ward a school like that?" Spencer asked.

"I own a heap of rental property including a couple of school buildings in Britain and they're all warded like that but it's illegal to ward any building that you don't own," Hadrian replied, joining them. "You're thinking of trying to prevent bullying?"

"Yeah," Spencer agreed. "Are you ever tempted to put illegal wards on your children's school?"

"I attempted to anonymously buy the building and lease it back to the school for a nominal amount for the next fifty years. I'm waiting to hear the outcome but the education department generally likes to own their school buildings," Hadrian replied, not mentioning that he'd also started to buy up the properties surrounding the school and letting the wards he put on those buildings overlap the most of the school playground.

Spencer looked shocked. "I knew you had money, but to buy a school in this neighbourhood and not even cover the mortgage payments with the rent?"

"I've already told you how I make my money if you think about it," Hadrian said enjoying Spencer put the puzzle together.

"Rents. You've warded your rental properties so you don't need to pay anywhere near the normal maintenance costs, and your rental properties are safer than most places so your tenants benefit too," Spencer realised.

"Yes, added to the fact that my family has been around literally almost forever, and each generation has never sold so much as a square foot of land, instead adding to the properties wherever they see fit. I'm starting to buy buildings in Washington but I most of my rental income still comes from Britain."

"I wish you would buy my building," Spencer said half jokingly. He was tired arguing with the landlady about the constant need for maintenance on the pre-war apartment, though he loved the architectural features and the look and feel of the building.

"Is it for sale?" Hadrian asked.

Spencer sighed. "No, the original owner I rented from died a year ago and his widow hasn't been good at keeping up the maintenance so she might be open to offers but she hasn't put it on the market. She's tried to put the rents up though to the point I might look for somewhere else when the lease runs out next year."

"Make sure next time you pay more attention to the condition of the building and its maintenance record than the character. Maybe even take Morgan with you to help you," JJ suggested, smiling ruefully at her friend.

"Let me know if you decide to move and I'll send you a list of the buildings I own," Hadrian offered, resolving to look into Spencer's building and make a viable offer on it. Unlike the school though, he was planning to make a profit.

Hadrian introduced Spencer to his chess men, making Spencer laugh as he told the intricately carved pieces of marble that Spencer was a better player than he was and that he wanted them to mind their manners.

Ron won the first game, Spencer was too busy controlling his shock and amusement at Hadrian's chess set telling him what to do and arguing with his decisions. But the second game Spencer managed to put the novelty of the animated pieces aside and win convincingly. The third game took a lot longer as the chess men obeyed their new temporary master and the two men battled for dominance.

Ron found Spencer's questions and discussion on the history of chess in the muggle world equally distracting. He'd always thought that chess was a British wizarding game that had leaked into the muggle world but Spencer said the game had been played in muggle China for centuries before making its way to England, via Persia and India. He wanted to argue but Spencer knew a lot of details about the other countries he'd barely heard of. Hermione also shut him down by agreeing with Spencer. Ron knew better than to argue with his wife about facts she had read.

A/N: Thank you to TruGemini, BrothersBestFriends, delia cerrano, buterflypuss, knuckles 8, julschristine975, Melikalilly, Kourtney Uzu Yato, SpiritBlackPaw, Rori Potter, DS2010, LunaSunFlowerLily, Firehedgehog, Gime'SS, Village-Mystic, Locket1, Vladimir Mithrander, DarkRavie, acherongoddess, notsofrilly, charm13insomnia, KEZZ 1, lilly-flower15, starie78, Reader Ethiriel, mayawene, Venus914, serenityselena, Serpent91, Fallow54 (Guest), Silvermane1, kimbarn30, The Vitruvian Woman, yngoldfogee (Guest), DullReign82, Beth5572, Merlenyn, lescavanagh, blinddivinity, Rainbow2007, Marikili68, Sarasri, ruth hammond, AndrewWolfe, MargaritaS, wannabe kairi, Tetractys, and all those who followed and favourited this work for your support.

A/N2: I've had a lot of complaints recently about the number of thank you's I add to each chapter and I was tempted to ignore them since I am sincerely grateful for the support and it seems wrong not to thank you all. However, one reviewer pointed out that is does pad out the word count and give a false impression. So I have reduced it to reviews only and if you dislike it enough then I encourage you to read someone else's work instead.


	65. Chapter 65

**Chapter 65**

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or NCIS or any of their characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do **NOT** give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

Hannah enjoyed picking JJ's brain about fashions in the American non-magical world, particularly once JJ started critiquing fellow party guests clothing. Spencer flushed when JJ described his look as preppy professor, Tim's as smart casual and Hadrian's as more casual but still slightly conservative, but Hadrian just grinned and agreed. JJ then started pulling pictures up on her phone to show her the various high fashion and alternative fashion styles. Hermione quickly lost interest in this.

"She's never been interested in fashion. My friends Lavender and Parvati shared a dorm with her at school and said she never cared what she wore or whether she fit in," Hannah said. "She was too interested in schoolwork and reading."

"She sounds like Spencer, he loves his books and his studies. It wasn't until we gave him a bit of a makeover that he stopped dressing like a geeky college student," JJ said, smiling fondly at her friend.

"If you gave him a makeover, why didn't you make him more fashionable? Look at him he could be gorgeous," Hannah asked.

"Spence is gorgeous, and there's no point putting him in high fashion that he'd be uncomfortable in. He looks good in his current clothes and he feels confident wearing them. Yes, he looks a bit like a professor but he is one," JJ said.

Hermione would have liked more opportunity to talk to Spencer about his education, she still regretted not having gone to muggle university after Hogwarts. Still it was good to see someone beating Ron at chess, proving to him that he wasn't the best player around and that muggles could be just as clever as wizards.

Ron was shocked not to beat this muggle friend of Harry's but would happily have kept playing for the rest of the day if Spencer hadn't decided that he needed to leave with JJ when she had to go. He was quiet for the rest of the afternoon, going over the games in his head.

Hadrian and Tim both suspected that JJ had invented the other appointment to get away from Hannah but were grateful for her help during the party and afterwards in keeping Lady Longbottom entertained and her ignorance of the non magical world contained. Hadrian resolved to buy her a small gift to thank her for preventing a major incident. A gift certificate to her favourite spa to help relieve the tension Hannah might have caused seemed appropriate.

-o0o-

Kingsley discussed with Hadrian the possibility of conducting an education session on working with Muggle law enforcement. Hadrian informed Kingsley that he would in fact be in England for Ellison Longbottom's christening and would be happy to schedule several sessions for the Auror Corps and the Auror Academy for the Monday after that.

"I look forward to it," Kingsley said.

"Tim will be presenting with me," Hadrian said.

"Are you sure that is wise?" Kingsley asked. "It won't be well received."

"The Aurors need to know what non-magicals are capable of," Hadrian said calmly. "Having Tim there is the best way to show them. We can take some of the technology they've been trying to deny would work in the magical world and try to drag them kicking and screaming into the 21st century."

"I must admit Cell phones would be much more convenient if all the people I need to talk to carried one," Kingsley replied. "I tried to make it compulsory for the department heads but a surprising number of them broke within days."

"Did you buy them from a muggle retailer or here from the magical shopping centre. They need magically hardening and insulation to prevent them from burning out. I'm sorry I thought I'd told you about that," Hadrian said sheepishly.

Kingsley slapped his palm to his face. "You did. You told me the whole story of how your pocket caught fire. I forgot all about it."

"I can take you to the shop I buy my phones, they'd need a British Sim card to work in England but I can show you how to change it without damaging the magical protection," Hadrian offered. He checked his watch. "We've got time to go now."

Kingsley nodded and Hadrian grabbed his arm and apparated away. They returned twenty minutes later with a pile of new phone boxes. "We cleaned them out, they said they'd have another order ready for us to take when we come for the christening. Remind me to pick them up before we go," Hadrian asked Tim.

"Sure," Tim replied.

-o0o-

Kingsley, Ron and Hermione portkeyed home after dinner but Neville and Hannah stayed an extra day and spent time catching up on Wizengamot business, preparing for the upcoming session, and spending time together. Tim and Hadrian enjoyed getting to know their godson better.

There had been some resentment on Hannah's part over Neville's choice of Harry and Tim but as he pointed out she'd chosen both of Franklin's godparents and he hadn't objected even though he didn't really get along with Ernie McMillan that well.

"That's different," Hannah had argued. "At least Ernie and Susan would send Franklin to Hogwarts and bring him up to know everything that the future head of the House of Longbottom should know."

"Harry is the head of House Potter and House Black," Neville had countered. "He is more than capable of teaching the boys what they need to know as Head of House Longbottom. More than that, he will bring any child in his care up in a kind and loving environment. That's more important to me than anything else, besides Ellison isn't going to be the head of house Longbottom, Franklin is. I want Ellison to grow up with the skills and motivation to make something of themselves and not just live off their trust fund. Harry and Tim will teach them that better than Ernie McMillan will. In fact, I think they'd be better guardians even for Franklin than Ernie. I hope if anything happens to us either Susan or Harry will take them both in.

"But Harry's never going to come back to England, look at the house and the party, he's settled here. In fact, he seemed more comfortable with everyone else in the room than he was with his former best friends," Hannah said perceptively.

"Harry and Tim won't live in Magical Britain until the bigotry against same sex marriage, muggleborns and the children of werewolves is wiped out of our society. If you want them to move back to Britain then we should start trying to use what influence we have to change those things," Neville replied. "And don't say you don't have the power, look what you did by spreading those rumours of squib children being murdered by their parents. It was investigated and there's a person in the WPC that's in charge of making sure births are registered and the children cannot just disappear anymore, and a place to leave them that will train them in how to survive in the muggle world and give them a decent education to make the most of their lives."

"It really made that much difference?" Hannah asked, astonished.

"Not by itself but Hadrian had already told Kingsley and Robbards and they were getting nowhere trying to investigate. It was you and your friends that managed to get the wizarding world worked up about it and then Kingsley, Robbards and Harry stepped in to make the most of the opportunity you created."

"Harry, what's he done?" Hannah asked, confused. She didn't think Harry had been in Britain at all since she'd seen him over the summer.

"The squib transitioning school and orphanage were set up and funded almost entirely by Harry," Neville said. "He's also trying to set up a summer camp for muggleborn children too young to start Hogwarts to teach them some of the wizarding traditions so they understand what's going on around them a little better. It will just be for the eleven year old's about to start at the moment but he hopes to extend it to nine and ten year old's as well eventually. He hasn't entirely abandoned our society even if he chooses not to live in it. Think about it Hannah, who's done more for wizarding Britain, the pureblood Ernie MacMillan who lives of an allowance from his father, or Lord Potter Black, even though the prejudices of our world and the Weasleys unjust prosecution of him drove away. Now think about which of them you would rather the boys grow up to emulate."

Hannah did think about it, Ernie was her friend and her best friend's fiancé, but she had to admit he was more than a bit of a snob, and he didn't really do anything, he didn't have a career or a seat on the Wizengamot, which his grandfather still held so he wasn't even the primary heir.

-o0o-

"It was great seeing everyone, but I must admit I'm ready to be just the family again," Hadrian admitted as Neville and Hannah left.

"I admit I'd probably enjoy Neville's visits more if he left Hannah at home," Tim said.

"Yes but she was less outspoken in her opinions of our lifestyle this time," Hadrian pointed out.

"Maybe because she could actually see how it works, magicals and non-magicals meeting as equals and the level of acceptance, you and I and Teddy have here with our friends," Tim said. "That or she was overwhelmed."

"I'm surprised she named us both godparents though," Tim said.

"Me too but Neville complained to me about the friend she chose to be Franklin's godfather so maybe he insisted this time."

"Should we expect trouble when we go to the christening?" Tim asked.

Hadrian frowned thoughtfully, "None of the Weasley's are on the guest list and we didn't mention it in front of Ron or Hermione but Hannah's a huge gossip so I wouldn't be surprised if the press and everyone else finds out we're expected to be there. Neville and Hannah's friends were mostly on the light side of the war or neutral, the other few have publicly renounced the dark side and will be keen to re-establish their reputations and therefore won't say a single thing against me openly, no matter what their actual opinion is. I suspect it will depend on how unhappy Hannah truly is about it. She may be different surrounded by her own support network."

-o0o-

"Should we take Teddy and Rosie to England for the christening?" Tim asked.

"It should be safe enough if you want to," Hadrian replied. "I can't imagine most of the Weasley's will take our differences of opinion out on a child and the wards at Longbottom Manor must be nearly as good as ours are here. If we take several elves then one of them can be with each child all the time to pop them to safety if it makes you feel better."

"It would," Tim agreed. "I don't want to be paranoid but I also don't want Teddy to notice that I'm hovering."

Hadrian nodded, "If we take him, then I want him to feel safe at Longbottom Hall, which means we need to act like we think he's safe. He's normally very aware of our feelings."

"Have you considered having an elf accompany him to school like that?" Tim asked curious how far Hadrian's protective instincts had gone.

"I haven't gone that far but there is an elf assigned to listen for Teddy and go to him if he cries out in distress. They're under orders not to reveal themselves and not to interfere unless Teddy if in danger or seriously injured. And there is one assigned to do the same for Rosie and Barbara when they're out," Hadrian said.

"And one assigned to me too?" Tim asked.

Hadrian blushed, "Will you be mad at me if I say yes?" he asked sheepishly.

Tim leaned over and hugged him. "Since I've never even noticed he's there, no I'm not mad. He's obviously not that intrusive. I'd like to talk to the elf that looks after me though."

"Elves, there's two when you're out in the field, one to protect you and one to protect the rest of your team," Hadrian admitted.

Tim smiled, "Why?"

"Because you're my husband the elves see you as a master too, and when there was only one he became conflicted between my order to keep you safe and your desire to find and protect Tony one day when he was the one in imminent danger. So now there's two of them so they can do both, follow your orders and still keep you safe," Hadrian explained.

"Have they saved me very often?" Tim asked.

"I don't know. You'll have to ask them, one of my orders to them was not to tell me anything. I didn't want to invade your privacy more than I had to to keep you safe. They're not spies Tim, just security detail," Hadrian said.

Tim laughed at the idea of him and the team taking a security detail with them everywhere but thinking back there were a lot of situations that could have been a lot worse than they were, and a couple of situations where the perp had unaccountably stumbled while running away from them. "I think they may be doing more than keeping me safe. They're actually tripping perps as they try to escape."

Hadrian laughed. "I expect they would argue that catching the perp rather than having to go looking for them a second time and risking an ambush is keeping you safe."

"Are they with me in the bullpen?" he asked.

"No, they're not, I was afraid their magic might interfere with the computers or MTAC. They did put some minor wards on the inside of your desk drawers against ill intent though and your food stash is warded against theft unless there is a genuine medical need that the person must eat immediately," Hadrian replied.

Tim laughed.

"Do you have any other elves following people around to keep them safe?" Tim asked.

"No, I thought about assigning Hermione an elf to keep her safe, but she would hate me for it. She still hasn't accepted that elves are happier and better off with their magic tied to serve a family," Hadrian replied.

-o0o-

"Hadrian, there is something else we were going to talk about after Rosie's birthday. Do you want to start trying for another baby?" Tim said sitting beside his husband and taking both his hands into his.

"I think I would," Hadrian said thoughtfully. "I like the idea of the children being a little closer together in age than Teddy and Rosie are. I want to wait until we come back from Ellison's christening though. I know it would probably take longer than that to succeed but if things go wrong I don't want to have to worry about harming a potential baby if I need to use the time turner. What do you think, would you like another baby so soon?"

Tim nodded, "I wouldn't mind one, but it took a couple of years of unprotected sex before you conceived Rosie, so it might not happen immediately. Or did you want to take a potion to make it happen more quickly? It's up to you, it's you that will have to give up fieldwork for months to keep the unborn baby safe. Will taking leave again so soon affect you getting a position here if all the death eaters are caught?"

"It shouldn't. The real problem will occur if I get a lead on one of the death eaters being here in the States while I can't work in the field. I wouldn't want to put the baby at risk and I may have to call Robbards for support which depending who he sends would expose where we live and increase the risks for all of us," Hadrian said.

"You've taken every possible precaution to prepare for someone finding us Hadrian. And there's no reason to suppose that a Death eater will appear here in the tristate area. Anywhere else and you wouldn't be local, you could still claim your home base is in another country," Tim said encouragingly. "Are there potions to help you conceive?"

"There are such potions but I don't think we need one just yet," Hadrian replied thoughtfully. "What if I stop taking the birth control potion and see what happens. If I'm not pregnant again by this time next year I'll consider taking a potion."

Tim smiled. "Yes that sounds sensible."

"We will have to have two elves take Teddy, and Rosie too. And Tollie can go with them too so there's always at least three elves with them working in shifts. Do you want to portkey straight to London, or stop overnight in Hawaii?"

"How about we go straight to London and plan to stop in Hawaii on the way home. That way if things go really well and we want to extend the trip another day or two we can," Tim suggested. "And if not we have some time to relax before we get back to work."

"Sounds good," Hadrian agreed. "Did you get the time off?"

"I got the week after, we could leave here Friday after work without using the time turner," Tim said.

"What about you?"

"The week after, same as you but I can also take the Thursday and Friday before unless a case comes up in my area of expertise," Hadrian said.

-o0o-

Hadrian and Tim had decided to portkey to London and turn back a couple of days, staying at the flat in Grimmauld place to recover from the portkey and have a couple of days to themselves before the children arrived and they headed to Longbottom Manor. Talking to Quincy, Kingsley, Robbards and Sir Geoffrey had turned that into a week on their own before the children joined them.

Hadrian caught up on some business with Quincy, looking at the new developments and refurbishments he was making. The new school and estate they'd decided on last time was now completed and the students had started to attend. The wards on the school made it one of the most popular schools in the area with students travelling from adjoining school zones to attend. Seeing the success Hadrian made plans to include more schools in his new developments. The children were learning in a place of peace and safety, everything a school should be but for so many children failed to be. The education department were sceptical but handed over licences to build schools in areas where the overcrowding of the current schools was limiting the educational opportunities of the children.

Hadrian also took time to catch up with Sir Geoffrey and to continue planning the education sessions Robbards wanted him to run with the Aurors and Auror cadets, his recent experience with Trainee Auror Caddie had given him some new ideas to add to the suggested sessions. They also took some time to do some of the tourist things around Britain that neither of them had had the opportunity to do in the past.

At the end of the week they were both glad to be reunited with Teddy and Rosie and they took the local portkey Neville had sent them to the edge of the manor.

"Wow, and I thought our houses were a bit much just for the four of us!" Tim said looking at the ancient manor up on the hill above them. "There's got to be over a hundred rooms."

"It's been the home of the Longbottom family for hundreds of years. It's designed to have more than one generation living here. Neville's grandmother still lives in one of the wings," Hadrian replied.

"And not being subjected to muggle inheritance taxes or upkeep costs no doubt helps," Tim said cynically.

They walked up to the house, "Why did Neville have us portkey so far out? I thought he trusted us," Tim asked.

"A house this old probably has blood wards on it meaning only family members can apparate closer to the building. If he didn't trust us we would have landed outside the gate," Hadrian replied

pointing to the gates about an extra mile down the hill.

Tim looked around and saw a couple of smaller houses scattered around inside the huge stone walls.

"Would they be farmer's cottages?" he asked.

"I think they would've been in the past," Hadrian agreed. "Some of the larger ones probably would've also housed relatives at one stage, the sons who weren't in line to inherit the Lordship and main house. It's only Neville and his family and his grandmother left now. The wars have been nearly as hard on the Longbottoms as they have been on the Potters and the Blacks.

"Do the Blacks have an old family home like this?" Tim asked.

"Yes, that Abbey we visited last time that felt so awful, Quincy has cleared it out and the curse breakers have taken down and replaced all the wards. The Blacks were historically a very dark family. Their wards would have killed Teddy even if he is the heir," Hadrian replied. It should be safe to look at now."

Tim shuddered as he remembered the feeling of the Abbey. "Do you think they've really managed to fix the problem. I wouldn't want to live there."

"I wouldn't either. I did consider having it converted to muggle apartments but perhaps Teddy or one of his descendants will want to live there. Potter Manor was already destroyed before I was born and there didn't seem any point rebuilding so I kept the gatehouse and built a housing estate on the rest of the grounds. I certainly don't need a home like this but I don't want to take that away from Teddy if this is what he wants."

"At least it's a nice day to walk and we don't have to carry our bags," Tim said smiling.

Neville opened the door as soon as they reached the steps, having been alerted to their arrival by the wards.

"Hey, I'm glad you could make it," he said cheerfully. "I'll show you to your rooms if you'd like to rest, or lunch is about to be served on the terrace. We have to take advantage of weather like today."

"We'll join you for lunch" Hadrian replied. "Is it just the family?"

"Susan and Ernie are here too, you remember them both?" Neville replied.

"I do," Hadrian replied. "They're friends of Hannah's. Ernie can be a bit of a snob but Susan's quite sensible, I think you'll like her," he explained to Tim.

"What Harry's trying hard not to say is that she's not as stuck in traditions as Hannah, or at least she wasn't before she got engaged to Ernie a couple of months ago. She didn't have such a sheltered life as Hannah did. Her parents were killed in the first war when she was a baby and the aunt that

brought her up was killed at the start of the second war," Neville said cheerfully.

Tim laughed. "They're Franklin's godparents. Were they upset that you didn't choose them to be Ellison's as well?"

Neville swore, "You know I'm not even sure Hannah has told them," he admitted. "She wanted to tell Susan on her own and she never mentioned how they reacted. I hope she has but I didn't think to check."

Hadrian frowned, this wasn't like his friend. He hoped Hannah hadn't put off telling Susan and Ernie because she had changed her mind about who she wanted to be Godparents.

Neville led the way out onto the terrace and introduced Tim to Susan and Ernie.

"Harry, Hannah didn't mention you were coming," Susan said smiling at him.

"Hi Susan you're looking well," Harry said gallantly.

"Thank you, so are you. You look years younger than Neville and Ernie," Susan said.

"That's not exactly an advantage unless I'm undercover," Hadrian said laughing as her fiancé and Hadrian's husband frowned.

"We'll you look great. Healthier and more relaxed than I've ever seen you," Susan said.

"Yes, not having to watch my back every time I leave the house is amazingly less stressful than living here," Hadrian said.

"So, Hannah was right, you're not moving back?" Ernie said. "What about your responsibilities. You have a seat in the Wizengamot."

"No, I'm not returning to live in England. Neville sits as proxy for my seats and to be honest I don't owe this society a damn thing," Harry retorted.

"But you could do so much more by leading the faction yourself. People would follow you," Ernie stated.

"Until the daily prophet decided I was too powerful or dark or crazy again," Hadrian retorted cynically. "I gave up my family, my childhood and very nearly my life for this misbegotten society that thinks it's acceptable for my godson, the child of two war heroes to be banned from entering some of the shops on Diagon Alley. I can't even take my children out in public here without a security detail. Who are you to say I haven't already given enough?"

"People know I vote the Potter proxy and those that matter know that Harry is involved in making the decision which way his seats are voted. It's not unheard of for me to vote Harry's seats differently than my own on the rare occasions we disagree," Neville said. "And as for the changes Harry would want to make in our society, his friends have all been quite vocal what changes need to occur before Harry will consider returning. We've been working hard to end the bigotry in our world. Besides you can't talk, what exactly have you done to help fix our society since Harry killed Voldemort?"

Ernie spluttered but had no reply to give. Instead he turned and attacked Hannah. "How come you didn't tell us Harry Potter was coming?"

"Because Neville forbade me. He said it wouldn't be safe to have Harry here if word got out in advance," Hannah said.

"Rubbish, you have better wards than anyone," Ernie said.

"No wards are unbreachable and I still needed to arrive outside them. It would be easy enough for someone to plan an ambush if Hannah had let slip when we would be arriving," Hadrian said.

A/N: Thank you to Firehedgehog, Rori Potter, jayswing96, jilumasam, SpiritBlackPaw, starie78, DullReign82, buterflypuss, sandipi, knuckles 8, charm13insomnia, xDarklightx, DarkRavie, fayriegirl, mithrilandtj, Tetractys, Heretogetthestory, Gottahavemyncis, acherongoddess, Kourtney Uzu Yato, KEZZ 1, Melikalilly, lilly-flower15, aisa.32, Reader Ethiriel, gabrieljuarezl, staar (Guest), kimbarn30, Village-Mystic, delia cerrano, DS2010, 19811945, TruGemini, Merlenyn, Silvermane1, serenityselena, Fallow54 (Guest), Guest, Serpent91, Locket1, Rainbow2007, Gime'SS, Harriverse, lia (Guest), Ashley (Guest) and all those who followed and favourited for your support.


	66. Chapter 66

**Chapter 66**

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or NCIS or any of their characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do **NOT** give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

I'm sorry we've been ignoring you. I'm Susan Bones, and this is Ernie MacMillan, we went to school with Harry and haven't seen him in years," Susan said offering Tim her hand.

Tim shook hands smiling pleasantly, "I'm Tim, Hadrian's husband."

"Who's Hadrian?" Susan asked confused.

"I am!" Hadrian said rolling his eyes. "It's my real name."

"Since when?" Ernie asked.

"Since my parents filled in my birth certificate," Hadrian said sarcastically.

"I thought you were betrothed to Ginny Weasley?" Ernie said.

"I broke off my engagement and my relationship with Ginny about two weeks before I left England nearly five years ago. Neville, Hermione and Luna Lovegood witnessed the ending of the betrothal contract and I stated clearly multiple times that I had no intention of ever renewing it. Why would I want to marry a fangirl that I cannot trust?" Hadrian said bluntly.

"Ginny's been claiming that you're still engaged for years," Ernie argued.

"And multiple people have been telling you she was lying for years," Neville reminded him. "The girl needs a mind healer."

"Tim and I have been together for almost four years," Hadrian said. "I haven't even seen Ginny since I had her and Ron arrested for assault and conspiracy to commit assault before leaving Britain."

Considering the conversation closed, Hadrian turned his attention to his children and transfigured one chair cushion into a booster seat and another chair into a highchair and strapped Rosie in. Handing them both some fruit pieces he turned to Hannah. "Where are Franklin and Ellison?"

"In the nursery. I can have an elf take Teddy and Rosie up to join them if you like," Hannah said.

"Would you like to go and play with Franklin, Teddy?" Hadrian asked.

"Have they eaten?" Tim asked.

"I can have something sent up for your children even if they have," Hannah replied.

"I'll go play with Franklin, can I take my trains to play with. Is Rosie coming up to play with Ellison?" Teddy replied.

"Rosie can go as long as Ellison isn't needing a nap," Hadrian said.

"Are you hungry for lunch yet?" Tim asked.

"No thanks, I want to play" Teddy replied.

"Okay then, let the elf looking after you know if you get hungry," Hadrian agreed.

Hannah called the elf who popped in and popped out with the two children.

"He's speaking so well," Hannah said.

"Yeah, being at kinder with his friends has turned him into a real little chatterbox," Hadrian replied. In truth, he'd always been a bit of a chatterer and being surrounded by older people was responsible for his language skills, kindergarten had just cured his shyness, so he'd speak in front of a group he didn't know well.

"Have you had any problems with accidental magic at kindergarten?" Hannah asked.

"No none, he knows he isn't allowed to use magic and he's very careful, the only real risk is that we'll forget to give him his potion," Hadrian replied.

"What is a kindergarten?" Susan asked.

"It's a part time program three or four hours a day three days per week for the school year to get children ready to start school. He learns things like playing nicely with other children, using pencils and scissors, listening to the teacher and joining organised songs and games. Teddy loves it," Hadrian explained.

"But isn't it too soon, he won't start school until he's eleven?" Ernie asked.

"He will go to a local non magical school next year and then to a wizarding day school once he turns eight," Hadrian said.

"You're sending him to muggle school, is that safe? What about the statute of secrecy?" Susan asked. She'd heard Hannah talk about this when she came home from the holiday they'd spent with Harry in the summer but hadn't been satisfied with Hannah and Neville's assurances that there wasn't a problem.

"Surely you realise that here in Britain, muggleborns and muggle raised witches and wizards all go to muggle schools for five or six years before starting Hogwarts," Hadrian replied. "I did, there were a few incidents but nobody believed that it was magic. Hermione said the same. Teddy's a smart boy he knows about magic being a secret and if he did slip up, adults would write it off as imagination. People in general don't want to believe in things they can't explain, they're more likely to convince themselves there was an accident somehow or they were hallucinating. Like so many witches and wizards were willing to believe that I'd gone mad and was an attention seeking liar when I said Voldemort had returned, in spite of the fact that it should have been obvious that I hated the attention I already had. His accidental magic only tends to occur when he's hurt or upset and the metamorphmagus concealing potion uses his magic to work and makes an outburst less likely," Hadrian replied.

"It would be more difficult for Neville and Hannah to send Franklin to a non-magical school, because he doesn't know so many of the things non-magical children know at this age such as using light switches, electrical gadgets and toys and telephones, not to mention popular TV shows for children his age," Tim said. "We live in a largely non-magical home."

"Are you a muggle? Or a muggleborn?" Ernie asked.

"I'm not a muggle, but in my country if parents choose not to send their children to a magical school then the government binds their magic so they can't actively use it. I might be muggleborn or one or both of my grandparents may have made the same decision my parents did. Unfortunately, they would also have had their memories of the event wiped so I cannot ask them. It doesn't really matter," Tim replied.

"How can you say it doesn't matter?" Ernie asked incredulously.

"The importance of blood purity is a British and European concept," Tim said dismissively.

Ernie frowned but Neville jumped in and began rambling about his new greenhouse before Ernie could say anything else. Hadrian jumped on the conversation and he and Tim found themselves following Neville out to inspect it. On his way out Neville gave his wife a pointed look and Hannah blushed and hung her head.

"What is Harry doing here anyway?" Susan asked curiously. "He never comes to England these days."

"Neville asked Harry and Tim to be Ellison's Godparents," Hannah replied.

"You're going to let people like that be your son's godparents?" Ernie asked.

"Harry Potter gave everything he had to destroy Voldemort. He still spends most of his time tracking down the Death Eaters that escaped justice to make sure there will never be a third war against them. Every man woman and child in Britain owes him a debt we can never repay," Hannah said repeating Neville's arguments.

"Yeah that's fine, but he's married to a man. A man who cannot even use magic. You heard them, they live in the muggle world. Is that the way you'd want Ellison to be brought up if something happened to you?" Ernie argued, not that he wanted custody of the boys but for the next Lord Longbottom to be brought up outside their world was unheard of.

"Neville insisted. He respects Harry not just for saving us but for the work he's doing now both as an international Auror and on the Wizengamot and with his charities," Hannah replied. "And I have to admit that in spite of refusing to live here, Harry does more for our society than most people."

"Like what?" Ernie asked.

"Harry's the major benefactor for the new wizarding orphanage and the squib orphanage and school. In addition to the money he provides both properties and all the building maintenance is done by his corporation. In addition to that he set up the programs and organised the new staff," Hannah said.

"That still doesn't answer the question, if something happened to you would you want Ellison brought up by two men together instead of a proper family, in the muggle world in whatever country they live in?" Ernie pressed.

"Neville would," Hannah said. "They have a proper family and Neville said Ellison is a second son, he doesn't have an estate to manage or Wizengamot seats to sit on when he grows up and we'd rather he grow up with people who will encourage him to work for a living and make his own life instead of sponging on his head of house and resenting his brother for having the money and the power. Besides it isn't as if Harry's totally unaware of the pureblood customs, he had to learn them when he inherited his seats. He could teach Ellison what he needs if necessary."

"He doesn't even sit on his seats in the Wizengamot," Ernie scoffed.

"But he does decide how they are voted, Neville sends him the notification of the motions up for discussion and he researches the issues and tells Neville how to vote," Hannah replied.

"So, you're going to let Neville have his way like a dutiful little wifey and name Potter and his boy godparents of your son," Ernie sneered.

"You know what. Yes, I am. Harry and Tim are awesome parents," Hannah said, finally opening her eyes and seeing why Neville had had doubts about Ernie being Franklin's godfather, and role model.

-o0o-

"I didn't mean to make trouble for you and Hannah," Hadrian said as they walked towards the greenhouse.

"Don't concern yourself. Hannah agreed with my decision to choose you when we discussed it. I don't know why she didn't follow through and make sure Susan and Ernie knew they weren't going to be Ellison's godparents. For that matter, I don't know why they would've assumed they would be Godparents again in the first place," Neville said rolling his eyes at his former dorm mate.

"Is it normal for children to be assigned the same godparents because the godparents are the ones who traditionally take over custody of the child if the parents died? Because I would want Teddy and Rosie to remain together," Tim asked.

"Normally the closest family member would take custody, otherwise Harry here would have been sent to Mum and Dad instead of his relatives," Neville said. "Of course with what happened to Mum and Dad perhaps it's just as well he wasn't."

"No. My Mum and Dad's will listed four different people I should have gone to instead of the Dursleys. I wasn't sent there because of some stupid tradition. Dumbledore wanted me out of the wizarding world supposedly so he could hide me better but also to restrict what I learnt about our world," Hadrian said.

"That backfired on him. If you'd grown up in our world then you might not have felt the desire to leave and never come back," Neville suggested.

"Maybe not but I would still have left to ensure Teddy's safety, but if I'd grown up with you and your Gran, Ginny may not have been able to get away with potioning me and the public would have known me better and may not have turned on me as easily as they did," Hadrian speculated. "More importantly though, I've always thought that Sirius wouldn't have gone after Pettigrew and been wrongfully arrested if Hagrid hadn't taken me away from him that night.

Tim leaned over and hugged his husband.

"I know, it does no good to wonder 'what if'" Hadrian said tiredly.

"No but what happened to you makes me even more careful to make sure that Franklin and Ellison will be well looked after if anything happens to Hannah and I and that the people we've chosen will have airtight legal documents to back up their claim," Neville said.

"Yes, me too. I haven't given you custody of Teddy and Rosie because I want them to stay in America, but the people we have given custody to are muggles and Kingsley will be their magical guardian. That said, I hope their Uncle Neville will always be part of their lives and that you would take the position of Regent for all my seats on the Wizengamot. We hoped by separating the magical guardianship of the children from the regent positions their custody would be less likely to be challenged. But as Regent you would need to teach them the things they need to know. Teddy will be Lord Black and at Rosie will be Lady Potter and also the regent for the other seats at the moment."

"You're right," Neville said. "I understand Harry. This isn't the best place for either of your children to grow up in until we manage to get rid of the bigotry and I'm afraid that's going to take decades to stamp out."

"Kingsley's doing amazingly well with the child abuse and squib legislation," Hadrian offered.

"Yeah, it's finally beginning to be considered more shameful to have a ten or eleven year old child die in an accident than to admit they don't have magic," Neville said pleased. "And you should see the Alley, new mums are bringing their babies out and introducing them to everyone as soon as they've recovered from the confinement, especially those married to purebloods. There seems to be babies wherever you look."

"I was on the Alley yesterday, it looked normal to me. Then again it is normal to bring your children to the shopping centres I usually go to, but I never really noticed the lack of young children in Diagon Alley until I started looking after Teddy regularly," Hadrian said.

"I don't think any of us did. We just assumed it was normal for people to keep their children at home in seclusion to keep them safe until they were old enough to start school. Nobody really knew what was happening except the families involved. I just don't understand it, I couldn't hurt Franklin or Ellison whether they had magic or not," Neville said. "When I look back at what happened to me, how Uncle Algie did to try to force magic out in me, I'm horrified. If I had've been a squib I wouldn't have survived my childhood. I can't forgive him for that and I have trouble forgiving my Gran for not stopping him. What's come out now has brought all those memories back."

Hadrian nodded, "In some ways your childhood was more emotionally destructive than mine, at least my relatives never claimed to care about me. I didn't have that feeling that they betrayed my trust or my feelings for them."

"I swear Franklin and Ellison aren't going to go through what either of us did," Neville said.

"Teddy or Rosie either, that's one reason they won't go to Hogwarts unless they really want to. I don't want all these crazy expectations placed on them because they're my children," Hadrian said fervently.

"I understand that. You went through hell, everyone idolised you and the turned on you at a whim," Neville said. "I never quite understood why?"

"The Australians call it 'tall poppy syndrome'. People have a need to cut down the famous and overachievers. Those stupid children's books didn't help. Everyone thought I was some sort of superhero and then they were all disappointed when I turned out to be a normal muggle raised wizard," Hadrian said.

Tim kept quiet, he knew his childhood struggles were nothing compared to the other two but he still resolved that his children would never feel that his love and respect were conditional on any decision they made whether it be career, relationships or lifestyle.

-o0o-

Susan sat next to Tim later that afternoon.

"You know we all used to speculate on what kind of girl would be lucky enough to capture the heart of The-Boy-Who-Lived," she said. "I don't think any of us pictured it would be someone like you."

"The-Boy-Who-Lived?" Tim said slightly amused but also annoyed at the inference.

"Because he survived the killing curse as a baby," Susan explained.

"He told me about it, I just have never heard anybody call him that. It's a disgusting name," Tim said frowning.

"What do you mean?" Susan asked surprised.

"What else happened that day?" Tim asked pointedly.

"Voldemort was defeated, well temporarily defeated but we all thought he was killed," Susan said.

"And?" Tim pressed.

Susan looked at him blankly. "The whole world celebrated the freedom from the fear," she said uncertainly.

"Your parents died when you were a baby didn't they?" Tim asked.

"Yes, they were killed by Death Eaters which is why I was so grateful to Harry for defeating him," Susan said.

"Would you have liked to be constantly called the-girl-who's-parents-were-murdered?" Tim asked.

"No that's horrible!" Susan said frowning.

"Yes. It is," Tim said pointedly.

"But it isn't like that, Harry living saved our world, he should be proud of that," Susan protested.

"You think Harry should be proud of that night? He remembers his mother pleading for his life, her death and then the curse being cast at him and he didn't do anything. He believes Voldemort was vanquished that night by something his mother did. Would you like your friends to call you the-girl-who-lived-when-her-parents-didn't?" Tim asked incredulously.

Susan looked shocked, "I never thought… he never said anything."

"How could he. He was an eleven year old kid in a brand new world who from the moment he set foot in it everyone had unrealistic expectations of," Tim said.

"You're really not what I expected," Susan said.

"Yeah you said that already," Tim said.

"No I meant when Hannah told me Harry had married a gay muggle man I expected someone more... I don't know…"

"More subservient? More aware that I'm inferior to wizards? Maybe more like Ginny Weasley? More feminine?" Tim asked.

Susan blushed. "No, yes, I don't know," she stammered. "A lot of us were surprised he ended up with Ginny Weasley, she was too interested in partying and being the centre of attention. It made sense when we heard they broke up. But I thought he liked her type, his mother was a redhead too, as was his grandmother. They say that Potter's always go for redheads."

"You had hopes that he'd look in your direction?" Tim asked gently.

"Yeah I wouldn't have said no to him if he had. But that's not unusual almost every single witch was hoping they could catch his attention. Instead he disappeared. Other than Ron and Hermione's wedding this is the first time I saw him. I wasn't heartbroken when Hannah told me Harry was married. I'm happy with Ernie," Susan said.

"I'm glad to hear it, one obsessed red head is more than enough," Tim said dryly.

"Ginny Weasley," Susan said sighing. "She truly believes that Harry will come home and marry her one day. Even the fact he's been gone years now hasn't altered her belief. She needs a mind healer but her parents won't do anything about it. I'm surprised Harry told you about it."

"I met Hadrian the day he left England and we very quickly became best friends before becoming involved with one another, there is very little about our lives that we haven't shared," Tim said. "The only thing that I really didn't know before coming to England the first time is exactly how famous he is and how the public react to him. He tried to explain it but in my world, we have celebrities that have as little privacy as Harry and have all these fabricated stories about them appearing in the magazines but they wouldn't put up with strangers accosting them on the street. And sensible people know that most of the celebrity gossip is either false or blown out of all proportion, here they seem to believe every word, even when it contradicts another story which they also believe. It almost makes me wonder if there's a spell or something cast on the newspapers."

"So he told you all about the war?" Susan said. "About the horrific things that happened and the battle of Hogwarts?"

"He probably told me more about that than anyone other than Ron and Hermione know," Tim replied.

"Do you know Ron and Hermione? Do you like them?" Susan asked.

"I know them," Tim said diplomatically.

"But you don't like them," Susan said perceptively. "How does that effect your relationship with Harry?"

"It doesn't, Ron and Hermione live in England, they came to Rosie's birthday party about a month ago with Neville and Hannah, but we don't see much of them," Tim replied.

"Does Harry know you don't like them?" Susan asked.

"Of course, I don't keep secrets from him. Hadrian thinks Hermione and I might get along better if she loosened up a bit and stopped stressing herself out about the differences between our home and England. It upset her to discover that the rest of the world don't consider Hogwarts to be a great school, and the different approaches to the statute of secrecy nearly drove her into a meltdown," Tim said chuckling.

"Harry truly doesn't mind that you don't like his friends? He was always super protective of them in school, they always seemed joined at the hip," Susan commented surprised.

"He's no longer a school child with no family other than his best friends, and neither are they," Tim reminded her. "Hannah is your best friend but do the two of you both like exactly the same people?"

Susan blushed. "Hannah seemed to think that you're the one behind Harry's idea to use Neville and Hannah to spread gossip that will change things here," Susan said changing the subject slightly.

"Hannah is wrong, I'm not the one who understands how the British Wizarding world works. If Hadrian got advice off anyone it would have been Neville, Kingsley, Sir Geoffrey and his bosses," Tim replied. "But don't for a moment think Hadrian manipulated Neville into it. He explained to Neville quite clearly that he was hoping Hannah chatting to her friends would raise the level of knowledge and awareness of what was happening to squib children and Neville agreed with him."

"But he still manipulated my friend?" Susan asked half angry and half amused.

"He discussed the issue with Neville in front of her. Hadrian and Hannah would find it very difficult to have anything to say to each other if he couldn't mention anything he was happy for her to gossip about as well as the things he didn't want her to gossip about," Tim replied smirking.

"He could have told her," Susan protested.

"And Hannah would have told all of you about it, devaluing the gossip she did share," Tim retorted.

"You don't like Hannah much either do you?" Susan asked.

"She's pleasant enough but we don't have much in common," Tim replied. "She's a full time housewife and mother and lady of the house, and I really haven't met many people with a lifestyle like that. Hadrian and I both work full time in law enforcement, and juggle everything else around the kids. We don't have time for numerous social luncheons or gossip the way Hannah does, and didn't even have elves in the house until we needed them to help with Teddy. I'm not devaluing her contribution to society, she's managed to sway a lot of people and improve the plight of all wizarding children. I'm just not used to a society that's that insular and easily influenced."

Susan nodded thoughtfully, "There's more than that," she said.

"When we first met, Hannah made no secret that she believed muggle society to be immoral. She disapproved of everything from my clothing to my relationship with my husband and my parenting decisions. It didn't help that she seemed to resent Hadrian for not returning to England or letting her tell everyone about me and where we lived. And the closeness between Neville and Hadrian also annoyed her, especially when she found out Neville had attended our wedding and not told her anything about it."

"That last one would do it on its own. Even more than gossiping, Hannah hates not knowing things. She would have been in a major snit to find Neville kept secrets from her," Susan said amused.

-o0o-

Hannah had asked for the elves to bring Ellison down when Rosie went down for her nap, and Hadrian reached for him eagerly.

"Hey little man, haven't you grown," Hadrian said, smiling at the baby. "Can you smile for me?"

Ellison gave a big grin.

"You are so cute," Tim said sitting on the arm of Hadrian's chair and tickling the baby's tummy.

"Is Uncle Tim tickling you?" Hadrian asked. "Do you like Uncle Tim tickling you?"

Ellison chuckled and squirmed, obviously enjoying the attention.

The two men continued to play with the baby until he began to fuss and grunt, suddenly a horrible smell began to circulate around Ellison and he began to grizzle.

"He needs a new diaper, can you point me towards the nursery, unless you have a change table closer?" Tim said to Hannah.

"Diaper?" Hannah asked confused.

"Nappy," Hadrian translated.

"Snaffy," Hannah called.

"Yes mistress," a young-looking elf popped in.

"Ellison needs cleaning up, and a change of clothes," Hannah ordered.

The elf approached Tim who put the baby into her arms them popped away with him, returning him a few minutes later in clean clothing.

"Thank you Snaffy," Tim said taking back the toddler. He put him up against his shoulder and leaned into Hadrian. "How come they waited so long to have the baby Christened?" he asked.

"Mostly it's tradition," Hadrian said. "I'm not sure why it started."

"If it's hundreds of years old like a lot of British traditions it's probably because of the infant mortality rate. Before modern plumbing and sewage systems were built many children didn't survive. So the family wouldn't waste time christening the baby until he or she looked strong enough to have a chance of survival."

"The aquamenti charm was invented in the 1200 giving witches and wizards access to clean water long before the muggles, even now it's purer water than most cities," Hadrian said.

"Which would've made a difference if they had the education to understand why it was necessary, but did they?" Tim responded.

"The other reason they waited was for Neville to be sure we were ready to come back to England to attend," Hadrian said quietly.

"Oh!" Tim said softly. "He really felt that strongly about us being the godparents?"

"Yeah he did," Hadrian confirmed.

A/N: Thank you to lilly-flower15, Kaorilamb, knuckles 8, mumimeanjudy, Gime'SS, charm13insomnia, DarkRavie, Firehedgehog, Guest, Kourtney Uzu Yato, Sakya (Guest), kimbarn30, xDarklightx, Fallow54 (Guest), mayawene, Carl-the-strange, Rori Potter, Rainbow2007, Midnight Angels, Village-Mystic, SpiritBlackPaw, rmiser1994, KEZZ 1, buterflypuss, starie78, delia cerrano, aisa.32, acherongoddess. Tetractys, staar (Guest), Silvermane1, Reader Ethiriel, whatweareafreaidof, CraftyMomma, Harriverse, bluepillfanfic, LadyDrak75, Kris (Guest), serenityselena, DS2010, Melikalilly, yngoldfogee (Guest), Beth9891, MissHexie, Serpent91, flybunnyand all those who followed or favourited for your support.


	67. Chapter 67

**Chapter 67**

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or NCIS or any of their characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do **NOT** give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

"Why didn't you tell me Harry was home?" Ginny demanded, barging into Ron and Hermione's flat where Hermione was doing laundry.

"What are you talking about?" Hermione asked, internally vowing to renew the locking charms on the front door.

"Harry, he's here in England. Why didn't you tell me? Is he staying with you?" Ginny repeated, trying to be pleasant enough to get an answer.

"He never stays with us, we haven't the room for him and his family and our flat isn't secure enough," Hermione replied trying to hide her irritation.

"What do you mean isn't secure enough, you've got this place warded to the hilt," Ginny scoffed.

"It's not warded against you and your mother," Hermione replied dryly.

"Where is he staying then and why didn't you tell me he was coming home? Why doesn't everybody know?" Ginny demanded, ignoring Hermione's reference that the reason Harry didn't stay with Hermione and Ron was because of her.

"He isn't coming home to live, Ginny. The last time I spoke with him he told me that he doubted that he would ever move back to England, and he also didn't tell me he was planning to come to England at all this week so it's probably just a very short business or Auror related visit. Even if he is here in England he's made it clear that he doesn't want to see you. Harry's married. If he's brought his family with him, then he wouldn't tell us about it in advance to protect his family from you. He knows you nearly killed him to get what you want. He wouldn't trust you anywhere near his family," Hermione said.

"You don't know anything!" Ginny insisted.

"Ginny, he showed me a copy of his wedding vows and the ritual he used. It's a lot more than the traditional marriage Ron and I had. He is married not just for life but for eternity, he vowed fidelity for the rest of his life. They were the strongest marriage vows I've ever heard of. Even killing his partner and placing Harry under the imperious couldn't get Harry to marry you. What you want is impossible," Hermione argued. "Harry is happy with the life he has now. Happier and more relaxed than he ever was in the whole time you knew him. Tim loves him, really loves Harry as he really is, not the fantasy Harry Potter boy-who-lived that you imagine he is."

Unfortunately, Ginny refused to listen, again.

"Where is he staying?" Ginny demanded.

"I don't know, probably somewhere in the muggle world. I didn't even know he was here in England?" Hermione admitted. "How did you hear he was here?"

"I heard Ernie MacMillan tell Zach Smith this morning. Why would he come back if it wasn't to see you and Ron?" Ginny scoffed.

"He's closer to Kingsley and Robbards than he is to Ron these days," Hermione replied. "He often meets with them on Auror business, not always here in England, but it is often enough. If he came for a business meeting he might already have left again. Kingsley was also talking about having him run some Auror training sessions soon but I hadn't heard that they'd set a date for that."

"I don't believe you!" Ginny said. "Is he still close to Neville?"

"Yes, I believe he is. Neville votes his seats on the Wizengamot and they correspond regularly about Wizengamot business and other things. Why?" Hermione replied.

"Neville's having a party tomorrow. Were you invited?" Ginny asked.

"No we weren't, it's a family party. His son's Christening," Hermione said.

"So he wouldn't invite Harry?" Ginny said.

"He might, Neville did go to Harry's daughter's first birthday last month and Neville was the only one of our school friends to attend Harry's wedding," Hermione said thoughtfully.

"How do I get an invite to Neville's party?" Ginny pondered.

"You don't! Stay away from Harry and leave him and his family alone. Harry has information in a secure place to ensure you spend the rest of your life in Azkaban if there's even a hint that you harmed him or threatened his family. Kingsley and Robbards would like nothing better than to have you charged with attempted line theft, and if it goes to trial and people realise this is the reason Harry left the country they'd find you guilty and you'd be lucky to avoid the Dementor's kiss," Hermione replied. "Don't you care about your family at all? If you're prosecuted for line theft Bill, Percy and your father would be ruined and probably the twins, nobody would be game to buy their potions if it came out that their sister had nearly potioned The-Boy-Who-Lived to death."

Ginny looked at her sister in law in shock. "Harry wouldn't have me prosecuted. Not when it would harm his family like that."

"Wake up to yourself Ginny! Harry stopped seeing the Weasleys as his family when the whole lot of them believed your lies and turned on him without listening to his side of the story. You nearly murdered him. The twins kicked him out of their partnership in WWW, Bill lost his job with the goblins for letting cursed money be put in his vault, Percy tried to have him fired from the ministry and Molly made it nearly impossible to be out in public without her screeching at him, preventing him from doing his job in Diagon Alley which is partly what led to him being offered the international position, driving him out of his home country. Do they sound like actions of a family to you? They sound more like the actions of an enemy to me. The only reason he didn't have you prosecuted at the time was because he had another way out of the situation and he wanted to put the whole thing out of his mind," Hermione lectured, petrifying the red headed woman when she tried to storm off.

"You've done Harry more than enough harm, so I'm going to give you a choice. Either you give me your word and vow to leave him alone or I'll tie you to that chair until Harry leaves the country," Hermione said fiercely, removing the silencing charm. "Harry may no longer be family to you, but he is still my brother."

"You can't do this!" Ginny screamed.

"Watch me!" Hermione said bluntly.

"Ron won't let you do this to me," Ginny continued between obscenities.

"Yeah he will, if he knows what's good for him," Hermione said reapplying the silencing charm, and petrifying her, adding a sticking charm on the seat, before levitating the chair and Ginny with it into the spare bedroom and relieving the woman of her wand. She considered stunning her as well but she wanted her sister-in-law conscious to think about exactly why Hermione felt she needed to do this to her though she had little hope that the message would finally get through. She cast the incarcerous binding Ginny to the chair and warded the room for added security

-o0o-

"What the hell is that? Please tell me it isn't dinner," Ron said watching Hermione put pineapple, apples, spinach, celery, cabbage, kale and muggle protein powder into some muggle looking gadget.

"It's a food processor magically adapted to run off magical batteries. It was a gift from Harry. When we spoke about magical and muggle appliances I told him this was one thing I missed most and I wished there was a spell to vitamise foods. Dobby dropped it off this morning." Which in hindsight should have told her that Harry was in England this morning.

"And what exactly are you making?" Ron asked with trepidation.

"It's a protein and vitamin shake, a meal replacement. Don't worry it isn't for you. You're dinner's in the oven. Can you take this in to feed Ginny? She's in the spare room. You'll need to unpetrify her, so she can swallow and digest the drink but don't untie her," Hermione asked casting a spill proof spell and inserting a straw.

"Why do you have Ginny tied up and petrified in the spare room?" Ron asked confused.

"She came here this morning demanding to know why we hadn't told her Harry's in England, then she started making plans to crash Neville's sons christening. I took her prisoner because she wouldn't vow not to harm Harry's family," Hermione said angrily. "I'll let her go when she vows or I know Harry's left England again."

Ron sighed. He went into the room and unpetrified his sister. "Drink," he ordered, sticking the cup in front of her mouth.

"Untie me!" Ginny yelled silently.

"I'm not setting you free to hurt Harry. I regret believing your lies before he left the country and helped you drive him away. I was a lousy friend and I'm incredibly glad he's forgiven me and I'm not going to do anything else to harm our friendship," Ron said. "And I'm not removing the silencing charm because I don't want to listen to any more of your lies. Now do you want Hermione's shake or aren't you hungry?"

Ginny shook her head and turned it away even as her stomach rumbled.

"Suit yourself," Ron said moving away and reapplying the petrificus totalus. "Can't say I blame you, it's very green, but you know she isn't going to give you anything else," he mumbled hoping Hermione wouldn't make him drink it.

"She said she isn't hungry," Ron said.

"Did she spit in it?" Hermione asked taking back the drink.

"No she didn't even try to taste it," Ron replied. "You can't give that to her," he protested as Hermione poured some into Rose's sippy cup.

"Why not? She likes it and it's good for her," Hermione asked.

Ron watched his daughter happily drink the bright green juice smoothie in astonishment and decided to taste it. It was surprisingly good. More refreshing than pumpkin juice.

-o0o-

Hadrian received an owl at breakfast next morning. Tim looked up surprised, post owls weren't widely used in America.

"It's from Hermione," Hadrian said to him. "I wonder how she knew we were here."

He quickly scanned it, "Ernie has been telling people I'm here, Hermione is warning me that Ginny found out. She's intercepted Ginny but she can't guarantee who else she told before that."

Neville frowned.

"You didn't tell us to make it a secret," Hannah said.

"No we didn't, I hope you're warded against howlers, if Ginny told Molly," Hadrian said bluntly.

"The house is warded against uninvited guests but nobody I know has a howler ward," Neville replied.

"There must be such a thing, none of the professors ever got howlers while they were at breakfast," Hadrian said.

"I think they had a mail redirection ward to send all their non-personal mail to their offices where we wouldn't hear them," Neville replied.

Hadrian sighed and went back to his meal.

"The Christening's not until three, what are your plans for the rest of the day?" Hannah asked.

"We don't actually have any but I'm sure Quincy as some estate matters for us to attend to if you want us out of your hair," Hadrian said.

"Don't let us run you off," Neville said. "Hannah's made me promise not to discuss Wizengamot business this weekend but I'd be happy to show you around. There is room here to fly if you want."

"Tim doesn't enjoy it so thanks for the offer but no thanks," Hadrian replied not wanting to abandon his husband to Hannah's friends, though he'd coped okay the night before.

"Is there quidditch in America?" Hannah asked.

"There's a local competition but it doesn't have that much of a following. Most people follow American football, baseball, basketball or quadpot. I used to fly for a local team before we had Rosie but I just haven't had the time to go back to it. Perhaps I'm getting too old," Hadrian said. "I don't really miss it."

"Is Tim able to fly?" Hannah asked surprised.

"Yes of course, he is a wizard, though he doesn't like heights or rollercoasters so he enjoys flying about as much as Hermione did," Hadrian replied.

"I hate flying too, but Harry's always been part bird the things he can do on a broom defy belief," Neville said, smiling commiseratingly with Tim.

"I went to watch a couple of matches with him, but I've never seen him play," Tim replied. "I've flown with him occasionally in Hawaii, it's the best way to get across to the surf beach, the path's too overgrown and watched him chase the snitch out over the ocean."

"He's never seen you play?" Hannah asked astonished.

"The Statute of Secrecy, because Tim doesn't have active access to his magic I didn't realise he was a wizard and I didn't tell him I was one until after I quit quidditch because I was pregnant," Hadrian explained.

"But you were living together before then?" Neville asked, confused.

"Yes, for a couple of years," Hadrian agreed.

"How did Tim not know you were a wizard if you were living with him?" Hannah asked baffled.

"I grew up in the muggle world Hannah, so it wasn't like I had to learn how to use electricity and light switches and stuff. It was easy enough for me not to use magic when Tim was around and my wand holster disillusions my wand," Hadrian said easily. "Tim thought it a little odd that I didn't know how to drive but I explained that I lived in London and it is easier not to drive in the city."

"You really gave up using magic to live with him?" Hannah asked.

"Well not totally gave up, I was still working as an Auror and I did a lot of the housecleaning with magic when he wasn't home, except near the electronics," Hadrian said.

"But to put yourself in a position where you couldn't use magic for hours every day. I couldn't do it," Hannah said shuddering.

"I don't think I could do it either," Neville agreed quietly.

"I don't think I use magic every day at home even now. There's lots of things I prefer to do the muggle way. Of course, the elves do most of the cleaning and maintenance these days," Hadrian said.

Hadrian groaned a minute later, as he spotted the owl heading towards them with the ominous red envelope.

"Have you found a spell that works against them yet?" Neville asked.

"No the distance works against them, all my mail from England goes through Gringotts to reach me and they simply destroy the howlers and cursed letters and bill the sender's vault for the inconvenience," Hadrian replied. "It took a while for Mrs Weasley to realise it was costing her Galleons every time she tried to send me a howler."

Neville looked amused for a moment, until the owl reached it's destination.

The owl obviously knew what it was carrying because he dropped the envelope from height and sped up to clear the area.

Hadrian sighed, quickly scanned the letter for additional curses and then opened it. Molly Weasley's shrieking filled the air until Hadrian cast incendio restoring quiet. "For some reason spells don't work against them until they've started howling," he explained to Tim.

"Well Mrs Weasley clearly knows you're in the country," Tim said. "What do you think she'll do next? Wouldn't it have been better to hear what she had to say?"

"There's nothing she can do while you're here. I put all the Weasleys on the exclusion list for the wards. They can't get in here without a curse breaker and even then it would cause a major incident to attack the wards like that. The Aurors would probably arrive to arrest them before they got through the wards," Neville reassured them.

"They aren't likely to find us in the muggle world either, so don't think that we're prisoners here," Hadrian told Tim.

"But if she'd sent the howler while you were staying in the muggle world wouldn't that be a breach of the Statute of Secrecy?" Hannah asked.

"Yes it could be, but it could also be easily covered up by pretending that it was coming from my cell phone because I know about the muggle world, if they sent a howler to a pureblood while he's in the muggle world they'd have to call in the obliviators," Hadrian said. "Molly would still be prosecuted if I made a complaint though, and I would if she does it."

"She didn't know you weren't in the muggle world," Tim pointed out.

"No, but it probably wouldn't have occurred to her that I might be. She never goes into the muggle world herself and because I'm from an old pureblood family, people tend to forget that I was muggle raised," Hadrian said sighing. "That or they simply don't want to admit that the muggle world has anything to offer a wizard."

Tim just shook his head laughing. "I want to go and see the progress on that school you talked about building last time we were here," he said.

"Quincy said the building's finished and handed over to the education department. They're moving the school over the summer break," Hadrian replied. "They let us buy the land the original school was on as well and we're rebuilding and renovating those buildings to lease back to them too."

"So, it will still be an elementary school, the playground there was dismal," Tim said frowning.

"That's why we're totally rebuilding everything except their new library, making it three stories and installing lifts to free up more space for playgrounds," Hadrian replied. "It wasn't fair that the kids who lived near the new estate got to transfer to the new school and the others had to keep dealing with the old draughty buildings and concrete playground."

"Are these muggle schools?" Hannah asked.

"Yeah I had a lot of land sitting idle but if I'd turned it all into housing then the existing schools wouldn't have coped with the influx, they were bursting at the seams as it was, so the education department okayed me to build a new primary school as part of the estate, and then when they saw the quality of the new school they sold me the old one to rebuild as well. I have a 99 year contract to lease the schools back to the education department. It will take me the whole 99 years to break even on the investment itself but good schools attract better quality tenants. If it goes well I'm going to apply to build a school on all my new estates."

"It's a pity the American school system aren't as accommodating," Tim said. "We've been turned down again on investing in the school Teddy goes to."

"I am making some progress on purchasing all the surrounding properties though," Hadrian said grinning. Most of the area the kindergarten building is in is already under overhanging wards. Teddy's protected for this year at least. And I'll ward the rest of the school illegally next year if I have to."

"Why did the muggle school run out of space?" Hannah asked confused. Her only experience of school was Hogwarts that could easily accommodate five times the number of students than were attending when she was there.

"A couple of the businesses in the area expanded their workforce and the number of children in the area increased quicker than the education department had projected," Hadrian explained.

"Are there many muggle schools?" Hannah asked.

"Thousands," Hadrian replied.

"Thousands of schools, there can't be," Hannah protested.

"There are more than 24,000 schools in the United Kingdom," Tim said after googling it quickly.

"Why would they have so many little schools?" Neville asked.

"They can't centralise things like wizards do because muggle transportation is much slower and muggle schools send the students home each night. But they're not as little as you think, some of those schools will have thousands of students," Hadrian said.

"I knew muggles outnumbered us but I hadn't really thought about it like that," Neville said seriously.

"Muggles are also more fertile than wizards they have more children per family," Hadrian said so the amount they outnumber us by is growing every year. The statistics the ministry uses are nearly one hundred years old so they're very understated. Just like the general knowledge of muggle technology is decades behind at best and with the rate of innovation in the muggle world, it soon will be nearly impossible to hide from them if we don't blend in better. Kingsley is campaigning hard to have the muggle studies program at Hogwarts updated and made compulsory for a reason."

"You want me to back him up?" Neville said.

"Yeah I think you should. Wizards need to fit in better in the muggle world because just about every person now has a cell phone containing a camera capable of recording video and sending it anywhere in the world before the obliviators arrive. Not to mention a lot of cities are installing street cameras in high crime and high traffic areas. Wiping memories isn't going to work much longer, in fact it will make things worse if someone has footage on their phone that they don't remember. So we need to teach people ways to fit in without using magic and how to not stand out amongst the crowd," Hadrian said.

"We'll get out of your hair for a while. I want to see this school too," Hadrian said.

-o0o-

The Christening itself was beautiful as the family performed the protective rituals to tie the baby to the family magic, and Hadrian and Tim both unhesitatingly vowed to care for Ellison as if he was their own child.

"I thought rituals were considered dark magic in Britain?" Tim said confused at the end of it.

"All but the most basic of old family rituals are. But the christening, marriage and burial rituals have been grandfathered into acceptance because they are so widely used the government couldn't convince people they are dark so they claimed they were different from other rituals," Hadrian said cynically. "But this is a very light magic ritual there was no blood used or sacrifices or sex magic."

"What was the fluid used?" Tim asked.

"Tears, the tears Hannah shed during childbirth and the first tears Ellison shed at birth, and some tears from Neville too," Hadrian said.

"It was beautiful, we didn't use tears in Rosie's Christening," Tim said.

"We used blood, which is legal in America and a much stronger old Black family ritual. The Blacks were always a much darker family than the Longbottoms."

"There was blood in the ritual, my blood?" Tim asked astonished.

"Only a drop, collected from the scratches on your hand I inflicted during labour," Hadrian replied.

"And my blood from the caesarean incision and a drop of Rosie's and Teddy's taken that day too. Don't worry I didn't hurt them."

"Oh!" Tim said.

"This ritual wouldn't have worked for us with Teddy because he wasn't magically our son," Hadrian explained. "It would have worked with Rosie but the other one gives her more of a connection to us."

"Should we mingle or something," Tim asked.

Hadrian nodded and headed back towards the children. They spent some time playing with Teddy and Franklin then when Rosie awoke from her nap took Teddy by the hand and with Rosie on his hip introduced Tim and the children to everyone.

Many of the Longbottom relatives were torn between wanting to shake the hand of the boy-who-lived and wanting to turn their backs on such an unconventional relationship. Neville and Hannah's acceptance of the pair as godparents to their second child, determined the matter though and they were politely welcoming no matter what their personal feelings. Teddy soon squirmed loose to return to playing with Franklin but Rosie was a hit with the women of the family, especially once Ellison returned to the nursery for a nap.

Tim was amused by the formality of the relatives, he could see disapproval in more than one set of eyes in spite of their behaviour, but nobody was willing to disagree with their hosts and be impolite to a guest in his home.

A/N: Thank you to Kourtney Uzu Yato, Melikalilly, Tetractys, xDarklightx, WolfishPennings, julschristine975, Rori Potter, Fallow54 (Guest), Sakura Lisel, Kaorilamb, buterflypuss, Locket1, lilly-flower15, starie78, charm13insomnia, knuckles 8, aisa.32, KEZZ 1, Gime'SS, staar (Guest), Hikari-Pandora, Firehedgehog, Fyreheart, Rainbow2007, DS2010, DarkRavie, SpiritBlackPaw, delia cerrano, jilumasam, Harriverse, kimbarn30, Silvermane1, TruGemini, acherongoddess, Merlenyn, Beth9891, Village-Mystic, serenityselena, FotoDi, ArielSakura, T1962 and all those who followed and favourited for your support.


	68. Chapter 68

**Chapter 68**

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or NCIS or any of their characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do **NOT** give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

Neville was in good spirits next morning. "It's nice to have the house to ourselves again and be ourselves," He said.

"Oh! We can go if you would like. I didn't mean to outstay our welcome," Tim said surprised, and a little hurt. Neville and Hadrian acted like brothers most of the time so it had to be him Neville didn't like.

"No, not you Tim, all those blasted Longbottom and Abbott relatives," Neville said. "I'm sorry for the misunderstanding, I didn't mean you and Harry at all. You are very welcome to stay as long as you'd like. You must have noticed their stiff formality, forced politeness and the underlying tension yesterday. They don't get along, never have though I doubt any one still alive remembers the real reason. I was unaware of the situation until I married Hannah but it's been like this on every occasion since. It's almost enough to make me want to abandon the traditional formal family celebrations and tell the lot of them they aren't welcome in my home until they all remove the sticks up their arses."

"Yes, I noticed, but I just assumed they didn't approve of Hadrian and my relationship," Tim replied.

Neville sighed, "To be honest they probably didn't but it wouldn't have mattered much, as soon as you were friendly with one side the other side would've given you the cold shoulder," he admitted. "Did they upset you?"

"No, I was more amused by the way they were obviously making such a huge effort to force themselves to be polite. They wouldn't make very good politicians, well not in the non-magical world anyway," Tim said laughing.

"They are not politicians in our world, either. They are distant relatives, many of them live on stipends from the Longbottom estate, hence them toeing the family line, though some of them also have jobs of their own in the ministry," Neville said.

"Do you have plans for the day?" Tim asked.

"I have some issues from the recent Wizengamot session to discuss with Hadrian. Where is he anyway? He's usually up by now," Neville said.

"He's not still in bed, he and Teddy are out having a flying lesson," Tim said. "The wards at home aren't designed to hide broom flight, and Teddy overheard Susan and Ernie talking to Hadrian about flying."

Neville laughed. "It's hard to believe Harry doesn't fly much anymore. He loved it so much," he said.

"He explained to me that he used to use flying to escape the pressure of everyone's expectations. Up in the air he was wanted for his own skills, not for rumours and some mythical thing people thought he'd done as a baby," Tim said. "He doesn't have that need to escape his life anymore."

Neville smiled. "No, I don't believe he does, but he still has some need to escape from pressures of his positions. I go spend time in my greenhouses helping things to grow."

"When he wants an escape from the stressors of the job he comes home and plays with the children or cooks up a storm and then we have a family meal together," Tim said.

Hadrian and Teddy arrived at breakfast laughing and hungry.

"Have a good flight?" Tim asked.

"Yeah, he loved it!" Hadrian replied, as Teddy babbled excitedly about how high they'd flown and how fast they'd gone.

"I can see that," Tim agreed. "I won't ask about the safety precautions."

"I stuck him to me with a sticking charm and we didn't really go that fast or make any trick moves o sudden turns. I was careful," Hadrian replied.

"I know you would be," Tim reassured him. "Can the wards at home be altered to allow you to fly with him?"

"It's not the wards exactly that are the problem, it's the amount of air traffic in DC, I don't want to encourage him to fly there, he might decide to go exploring somewhere he shouldn't, with the speed of a good broom he could travel quite a distance in a short time and we're not that far from the flight paths, not to mention the number of private helicopters in the DC area. We can always fly safely in Hawaii or Boston and he'll be able to fly at school when he goes to Salem," Hadrian replied.

"Do you want to move to Boston when he goes to Salem so he doesn't have to board?" Tim asked.

"There's no need to move for that. We have enough elves available that they could transport him between DC and Salem each day, I'll just have to allocate a couple more for the task so they don't exhaust themselves," Hadrian replied wondering why Tim had brought that up. "Have you been worried about me wanting to move? You know I love our house and the neighbourhood in DC, the house in Boston isn't in a neighbourhood that I want to live in."

"Yeah," Tim admitted. "I couldn't imagine you thinking eight is old enough for boarding school, and I don't think even eleven is old enough to send children away for months. I remembered the portkey journey we took to get there, it's nowhere near as bad as to Hawaii or England but I couldn't wish that on Teddy twice a day."

"No I should apologise to you for subjecting you that portkey. I didn't know house eves could transport wizards that far. And I wouldn't be happy if Teddy had to board, I hope he and Rosie will want to stay home until they go off to college. Though boarding school was a godsend for me to get away from my relatives, I pray that my children will never see it that way," Hadrian replied. "If they go to Salem Teddy and Rosie will have the choice to come home as often as they want. But I could never ask you to give up your job and your life in DC to be closer to them."

"Speaking of children, are you ready to start trying for another one when we get home?" Tim asked.

"Yeah, I've started all the prenatal vitamin potions and the last birth control potion I took was almost a month ago," Hadrian said smiling.

"You're sure that's what you want?" Tim asked.

"Yes, why? Have you changed your mind?" Hadrian asked in surprise.

"No I want another baby, I'm just becoming aware of how much being pregnant will limit you. You won't be able to work, or to come back to England, or at least not be in public here and you won't be able to even go down the street or to pick up Teddy from school once you start to show, and what about when Teddy wants to have friends over, are you going to have to hide upstairs and pretend you're not home?" Tim said.

"You're feeling guilty that it has to be me every time?" Hadrian asked.

"A little, I don't know that I would be willing to do it, and I'd probably lose my job if I told Gibbs I was voluntarily putting myself on desk duty for nine months," Tim said.

"Don't feel guilty, I was cursed before we met, it wasn't your decision to curse me instead of yourself and I can't father a child I don't carry, that's just the way it works. And Healer Roberts said that it is safe for me to use glamours to hide my bump for a couple of hours most days, so I'll still be able to pick up Teddy if I feel like it or play with him at the park or go out for dinner and things. I know we weren't as involved in the community last time and I spent a lot of time at home getting the house finished, but I wasn't a prisoner in the house last time. It was just such a treat to have the space after our apartment that I enjoyed staying home."

"But you won't be able to come back home, will you miss it?" Tim asked. As many places as he'd lived in growing up America was his home country and he'd never quite felt like he truly belonged anywhere else. He failed to realise that the difference was that he'd always known that his father's overseas postings were temporary and he'd arrive home from school one day and be told to start packing for a move to another country, Hadrian had left Britain thoroughly disillusioned with magical Britain and planning from the start to make his home in his new country. The only reason he hadn't become an American citizen was because he was still employed by the British government and because giving up his British citizenship also meant giving up the right to his seats on the Wizengamot which was the reason he had ensured that Rosie also had a dual citizenship.

Unfortunately, he hadn't explained this well enough to Tim and it had left his husband feeling insecure, not about their marriage but about Hadrian wishing he could return to England to live one day.

"America is my home now. I would be quite happy to never set foot in Diagon Alley again. Between the overwhelming attention and the feeling that I need to be on my guard every minute not to be cursed in the back and the knowledge that my son isn't welcome in nearly a third of the shops thought they won't say anything if he's with me, it doesn't feel at all like home. The Dursleys made sure I never felt at home in Surrey and the Weasleys ruined the home I thought I had in Devon. The only place in England that I ever truly felt at home was at Hogwarts and I can't go back there," Hadrian tried to reassure Tim."

"You could teach, one day maybe, when I have to retire, you're still going to be young enough to work," Tim suggested.

"Hogwarts doesn't allow professor's spouses to live in the castle and it demand that the professors live on site during term time," Hadrian said. "Besides I'd be afraid of ruining the good memories I do have of the place by trying to return. I was oblivious of politics and most of the clashes between pureblood customs and muggle beliefs. I wouldn't see it the same way now."

"Well scratch that idea then, I'm never going to be too old to want you in my bed at night as often as possible," Tim said leering playfully to break the mood, Hadrian had almost sounded regretful when he spoke of not being able to return to his childhood innocence.

Hadrian laughed, then leaned in and kissed Tim passionately. "That's good, I will always want to be there with you," he said seriously.

-o0o-

Neville asked Hadrian and Tim to stay with them while they ran the Auror training Hadrian had set up. Tim set up a plasma connected to his laptop and demonstrated the information finding capabilities of the internet. He hacked into the CCTV cameras near the Leaky Cauldron and showed the people going in and out of the pub.

"If there's a reason for anyone to take a close look at this area you could have a problem. The Leaky Cauldron is registered as a muggle hotel but the number of people entering the pub and not returning is suspicious." He then pulled up the cameras in the King's Cross station. "Someone who knows about Hogwarts works in security there, it's the only explanation I can find why the camera between platforms nine and ten is down for maintenance every time the Hogwarts express is used.

"Wouldn't the concentration of magic used as witches and wizards use the portal break the camera?" one Auror asked.

"No, and it's lucky that it doesn't, that would be suspicious, I managed to hack the maintenance logs, it was down for scheduled maintenance each time. Someone is deliberately making sure the camera doesn't work those days," Tim replied. "The problem you're facing is that the number of these cameras and the sophistication of them is growing. This map of London shows all the current CCTV cameras used by the police, the traffic cameras, bank cameras," every time he mentioned a group he clicked and more dots appeared on the screen. "And these are the cameras planned to be installed over the next five years. In addition to these most office blocks and medical facilities have their own camera systems. It is essential that wizards learn to blend in if they're going to be entering the non-magical world. We are going to be making a submission to Hogwarts to update their muggle studies program and make it mandatory but the ministry is the largest employer of witches and wizards.

What we propose is to hold some training sessions for all your staff, and to increase the penalties of breaching the statute of secrecy. We are also going to have the obliviation teams taught how to identify the cameras and if possible alter the footage but this is a short term solution. The newer cameras transmit to multiple sites and we'll never manage to guarantee we'd got all the copies."

"It's not us you need to tell this to," one of the Aurors grumbled. "We get training in moving in the muggle world. It's the pureblood gits."

"It's rarely the pureblood bigots, they never set foot in the muggle world. It's curious half-bloods and the more open minded witches and wizards who want to see the muggle world but don't understand it or underestimate the amount it has changed since their childhood," Hadrian disagreed. "Which is why I'm making this presentation today in the Wizengamot, and tomorrow to the Hogwarts board and Gringotts human employees."

-o0o-

Hadrian and Tim finished their last education session and called in to see Hermione and Ron before they left England.

"Hello Harry," Ron greeted him.

"Hey Ron," Hadrian said cheerfully. "How've you been?"

"I've been good. Hermione's still at work." He offered them tea then went and floo called Hermione's office asking her to come home on time. He then disappeared into the spare bedroom for a moment.

Tim went over and spoke to the toddler playing with her toys in the corner.

"We missed her at Rosie's birthday," Hadrian scolded lightly.

"I'm sorry, it was just too good an opportunity to have a weekend away without the responsibility," Ron said. "You must want a break from the brats, too. You didn't bring them."

"We did, they're at Longbottom Manor. It isn't safe to bring them to Diagon Alley," Hadrian replied.

"But yeah, I understand the need for some couple time alone, not that you got that coming to visit me. You could have left her with us for a couple of days and got away to see the sights, I'm sure there are plenty of libraries and museums to keep Hermione entertained for weeks."

"Gee thanks, that sounds like a great holiday," Ron said sarcastically.

"I got Hermione's letter, how did she intercept Ginny? Whatever she did worked, I got a couple of howlers from Molly but haven't heard from Ginny at all," Hadrian said.

"I know!" Ron replied surprising them. "Hermione's got her tied up and petrified in the spare room. Said she wouldn't let her go until she vows not to hurt you or your family or she knows you've left the country again."

"You've had her tied up for four days?" Tim asked incredulously.

"Yeah, Hermione goes in there a couple of times a day to cast the spells to vanish the contents of her bladder and bowels and cleans her up if she's messed herself. And she's feeding her these horrible green smoothie things that she swears are a full meal replacement."

"But she knows who's taken her, she'll have you arrested for kidnapping," Tim protested, while Hadrian just grinned.

"Hermione's an excellent obliviator," Hadrian said.

"She's prepared to kidnap her sister in law, hold her captive for days and then wipe her memories of those days?" Tim said shocked.

"Yeah, she sees Harry as her brother and Ginny is a real threat to you and the children. Ginny is delusional, she still thinks if she kills you Harry will come home and marry her," Ron said. "Nothing we can say will convince her she's wrong. Hermione even tried telling her your marriage vows."

"Do you think that me going in there and telling her I'm married and how happy I am with my husband and children and how much I love gay sex would help?" Hadrian asked.

"Honestly no!" Ron said looking a little green about Harry talking about gay sex.

"She needs a mind healer," Hermione said arriving home and joining the conversation.

"Could we have her committed? She is a significant danger to Rosie and any other children we might have," Tim asked.

"Not in Britain, she can't be convicted unless she acts on her delusions and she can't be committed without her head of house's permission. Molly won't let Arthur give it," Hermione replied.

"So either I have her abducted and committed in another country, I press charges for the love potions which will harm the rest of the family or we just keep hiding from the crazy witch," Harry said resignedly.

"Is there something you could do to convince Arthur she needs mental healing?" Tim asked.

"Perhaps, can you call him here?" Hadrian asked Ron. "Preferably without Molly accompanying him. I have no desire to subject Tim to her ranting either."

"It night convince Arthur to commit the pair of them. Otherwise even if Ginny is cured she'll come back home and Molly will fill her head with rubbish all over again," Hermione said.

Ron went to floo and Hermione offered their guests a cup of tea before she started to prepare dinner. They both refused the tea and Hadrian stepped up to help with the meal.

Arthur arrived, Ron had managed to catch him at work as he was leaving so he was alone. "What's the problem that you couldn't come home and talk to me about it?" he asked.

"Ginny, she needs a mind healer and if we tried to talk to you about it at home Mum would interfere and say 'it's just a harmless crush and we should let her go, that Harry would be home soon and then we'll see what comes of it'," Hermione said quoting Molly's objections.

"Hermione, I know you worry about her but Molly doesn't believe in mind healers and I'm not sure I do either," Arthur began.

"And it doesn't matter to you that she threatened to kill my husband and daughter?" Harry asked stepping into the lounge.

"Harry, you're home!" Arthur exclaimed.

"To visit, not to stay. I can't live in a country where my husband and children can't travel about freely for fear of their lives," Hadrian replied.

"Ginny isn't a threat to you, she's just letting off steam," Arthur protested.

"Arthur, Ginny was here ranting on Friday wanting to know a way to get in and crash the Longbottom Christening to get to Harry. I tied her to her chair and told her I wouldn't set her free until she takes a magical vow not to harm Harry's family. I've made her the same offer three or four times a day and she's still sitting in the spare bedroom tied to a chair plotting to kidnap Harry and kill his husband," Hermione said bluntly. "We invited you here so you can see for yourself what a threat she really is. She is clinically insane, she cannot be reasoned with."

Arthur sighed. "I want to go in and talk to her," he said.

"Sure, if you leave your wand here," Hermione replied.

"What!" Arthur asked.

"Arthur, if you set Ginny free and she comes out here and attacks Tim I will kill her to defend him. My marriage vows won't allow me to do any less," Hadrian said earnestly. "For the love of Merlin if you don't want her harmed then leave her tied up until we leave."

Arthur shakily put his wand on the table and Ron escorted him into see his daughter and removed the silencing charms.

"Dad, quick let me loose Hermione's gone mad and she must have Ron under the imperious or something," Ginny said.

"You can go free as soon as you vow not to hurt Harry Potter or his husband and children," Ron said before Arthur could respond.

"You're all lying about my Harry marrying that man. He will come to his senses as soon as he sees me, he'll know that we are meant to be together," Ginny shouted.

"If you were meant to be together you wouldn't have had to overdose him on potions to get him to go out with you," Ron replied unimpressed. "He's truly in love with his husband. It seemed wrong to me too at first that Harry was with a man but they are happy together. It's good to see."

"You are lying," Ginny yelled hysterically.

"No he isn't!" Harry said entering the room. "I love my husband and our wedding vows were for this life and the next. And like it or not, I'm gay Ginny, now that I'm free of mood altering potions the idea of kissing a girl makes me want to gag."

"Harry, you came to save me, Hermione's gone insane. Please Harry, tell them you love me," Ginny pleaded.

"I didn't come to save you Ginevra, Tim and I came to see Hermione and Ron before we went home," Hadrian said. "I'm actually grateful that Hermione prevented you from being able to accost me in public and make a scene that would harm me, my reputation or try to harm my family."

"You don't mean that Harry!" Ginny shrieked.

"I do Ginny," Hadrian said, he reached out towards the door and Tim entered the room. Hadrian walked over and kissed him passionately, going a bit further than either of them was comfortable with when not alone in the hope that Ginny would see what everyone else saw. True love and desire.

"No!" Ginny wailed.

"Ginny this is my husband Tim, Tim this is the witch who almost poisoned me with love potions and drove me out of England to get away from her," Hadrian introduced cruelly.

"I'd say it was a pleasure to meet you but I'd be lying," Tim said. "But I do have to thank you for being such a selfish bitch that Hadrian was able to break through an almost lethal overdose of love potions and for driving Hadrian away from Britain. I wouldn't have met him if it wasn't for you. We have a great life together with Teddy and our daughter."

Hadrian, Ron and Hermione all looked amused but Arthur was shocked and Ginny dismissive.

"You don't love him like I do!" she insisted.

"You're right I don't. Your so-called love was selfish and cruel. You didn't care at all if Hadrian was happy or even that you were destroying him. I love Hadrian with everything I am. I would give just about anything to make him happy, even if it wasn't with me. But I'm lucky because Hadrian loves me like that too and we are incredibly happy."

"His name is Harry and he's going to divorce you and marry me. Tell him Harry!" Ginny screeched.

"My real name is Hadrian and after I left Britain I decided that I'd had more than enough of being Harry Potter who everyone thought they could use and control. I'm Hadrian now and I make decisions for myself. I am never going to leave Tim. I love him. I don't love you Ginny. I don't even like you. You are a spoilt selfish deluded woman who needs to open her eyes and see what harm her actions are doing to everyone around her. I would sooner have married my aunt Petunia than you. At least she was honest with me, and I'd likely live longer," Hadrian said bluntly.

"You're lying, you need to come home Harry and we'll make you see sense," Ginny said determinedly.

Hadrian turned to Arthur, "I honestly believe that Ginny's current state of mind makes her a danger to me and to Tim and our children. I would be all in favour of Hermione's plan to leave Ginny tied up here until she chooses to make that vow to not harm me and my family, but I wouldn't want to do that to her and Ron. So, given that Ginevra is clearly out of her rational mind I have another couple of options, either she gets mind healing and you sign guardianship of her over to someone Molly can't bully into getting her out without being cured and making that vow not to harm or attempt to control me or my family, or I will press charges against her for potioning me and she will go to Azkaban. Either way my family will be protected from Ginevra and her delusions. I spent my teen years with my freedom and safety restricted by the fact there was someone out there trying to kill me, I won't allow Ginny to do that to my children."

"Harry, please be reasonable," Arthur pleaded.

"I am being reasonable! If I wasn't being reasonable and generous I would release her from her bindings and either she would attack Tim and one of us would kill her in self-defence, or she would attack me and I would have her arrested without giving you a choice and have her charged not only with attempted rape, attempted line theft and assault but also attempted murder of the head of a most noble and most ancient house and I would ask the Wizengamot for life imprisonment," Hadrian said bluntly.

"You can't think that leaving this to go on as it is could be in Ginny's best interests. She's obsessed with some fantasy she thinks is Harry and miserably waiting for him to come home and fall in love with her. It's never going to happen, she needs help to move on and live her life," Tim said. "Refusing to get her the help she needs is just cruel."

"Self-defence?" Arthur asked, ignoring Tim completely.

"There's a strong possibility that our wedding vows would cause us both to die if one was killed," Hadrian said. He didn't believe it would be the case but it could definitely be argued that way in court.

"And attempted murder? Ginny had nothing to do with that attack, Kingsley proved that," Arthur argued.

"Yes, you're right, what you may not realise is that that attack or rather the fact I needed a comprehensive scan by a healer because of it, saved my life. The amount of potions Ginny was feeding me was damaging my magic and if it had continued and I'd continued to work as an Auror I would have suffered a lethal core breech within a couple of months," Harry replied. "So what's it going to be, you sign custody over to someone that will ensure Ginny receives the care she needs or she goes to Azkaban."

"Harry, please, she's my daughter," Arthur begged.

"I have a daughter too, she's only one year old, totally innocent and Ginny wants to murder her because she's in the way of the happy family fantasy in her mind. You would do anything to ensure your daughter was as safe as possible. Why would you ask me not to do the same for my daughter?" Hadrian countered.

"Take her to the healer," Arthur conceded bitterly.

"And guardianship?" Hadrian pressed.

"None of the boys will stand against their mother and it would ruin us to abandon her care," Arthur whispered.

"Hermione and I are prepared to make a vow to Harry, not to arrange her release until she is of sound mind and ready to take the vow not to harm him or his family," Ron said. "Hermione will research and find the best mind healer we can afford."

"I'm willing to help fund it if that is the barrier to her getting better," Hadrian said.

"And what if the best mind healers are in your country?" Hermione asked.

"That would be fine, so long as I know where she is and it's not the same city as my family," Hadrian agreed, after a silent conversation with Tim.

A/N: Thank you to Rori Potter, Kourtney Uzu Yato, Kaorilamb, mayawene, kimbarn30, ArielSakura, KEZZ 1, knuckles 8, Reader Ethiriel, Locket1, starie78, lilly-flower15, Firehedgehog, mumimeanjudy, charm13insomnia, serenityselena, LunaSunFlowerLily, Fyreheart, gabrieljuarez, xDarklightx, DarkRavie, Serpent91, Tetractys, Gime'SS, BCgurlie, Selenity84, Rainbow2007, Guest, TruGemini, Vladimir Mithrander, buterflypuss, aisa.32, delia cerrano, julschristine975, Melikalilly, Village-Mystic, Fallow54 (Guest), DS2010, acherongoddess, SpiritBlackPaw, lisicarmela, Merlenyn, Daithi4377, Silvermane1, Lientjuhh, NightshadeDreams, luramos, Corala and all those who followed and favourited for your support.


	69. Chapter 69

**Chapter 69**

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or NCIS or any of their characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do **NOT** give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

Hadrian and Tim left the Weasleys, hurried back to Longbottom manor where they explained the situation to Neville, had the elves pop the children back to Washington while they portkeyed to Hawaii. Arthur had wanted to free Ginny as soon as they'd gone but Hermione with foresight had hidden his wand and prevented it.

"We promised Hadrian that we'd give him an hour to get his family to safety," she insisted, using Harry's new name to drive home that he was no longer the forgiving boy that Arthur remembered.

An hour after Hadrian and Tim had left Ron and Hermione's, Ron again released the silencing charm he'd put back on Ginny when she wouldn't stop ranting. "Last chance Ginny, make the vow or be committed to the hospital until the mind healers pronounce you sane," Ron offered.

"Personally, I think you'd be better off going to the hospital and letting them find a way to get you past these delusions," Hermione had sniffed. Tim had been right she thought, not forcing her to receive healing was a form of familial abuse.

"I don't care what you think Bitch," Ginny snarled.

"Don't talk to my wife that way," Ron yelled back.

"Calm down Ron. After the way she's behaved these last four years I don't care about her opinion of me. Nobody sensible takes her seriously anyway," Hermione had said placatingly.

"What do you mean that nobody sensible takes Ginny seriously?" Arthur asked upset.

"Surely you must have heard her reputation. The way she rants about waiting for Harry to come back and marry her after the public rows she had before he left and the way he's declared that he never will date her again. And how half the country knows he's married and has registered his daughter as the Potter heir. Everyone knows she's delusional," Hermione said bluntly, feeling the time for softening the blow and letting Arthur live in his land of denial was long past. Charitably she didn't mention Ginny's reputation for drunken scenes or shagging anyone who offered, while still claiming to be faithful to Harry.

"Where are you going to take her?" Arthur asked.

"St Mungo's Asylum for now. I'll research and we can move her if I find some place with better treatment options," Hermione said.

"You can't put me in the asylum," Ginny screeched.

"We can't let you go, you're planning to kill Harry's husband and daughter," Ron countered.

"They've left the country by now, surely they're safe enough," Arthur begged.

"You want us to break our word to Harry?" Ron said. "Not going to happen!"

"Go home Arthur, we can do this without you," Hermione said. "Either Ginny goes to the hospital for mind healing or I go straight to Robbards and tell him Harry agreed to let him press charges against her."

Arthur shook his head sadly and left. Hermione sprang into action. "We need to leave now before he brings Molly here," she told her husband urgently.

"We can't take her to St Mungo's, Mum and Dad will have her out of there before morning," Ron replied.

"You're right," Hermione grabbed hold of Ginny, chair and all. "Forest of Dean," she told her husband before apparating away.

The two witches landed exactly at the site Ron had found her and Harry after abandoning during the hunt for the horcruxes. Ron arrived about fifty meters away yelling for them.

"This way Ron," Hermione yelled back. She walked towards him as she called, giving them an opportunity to talk out of Ginny's hearing.

"What are we doing here?" Ron asked.

"This is the only place I could think of quickly that your parents wouldn't know how to find," Hermione replied. "It gives us a chance to work out what we're going to do because you're right. There's no point putting Ginny in St Mungo's if Molly knows she's there, Molly will just get her released and she'll be free to go after Harry's family. The best mind healers in the English speaking world are in America but I'm not willing to have her so close to Harry unless she takes the vow. So she's going to make that vow before she leaves here even if I have to terrorise her into doing it. I've had enough of her bullshite!"

Ron sighed resignedly. "Okay, let's get this over with," he agreed.

"Play along," Hermione warned her husband.

"Let me go," Ginny screeched.

Hermione walked up and pointed her wand at her sister-in-law. "Make the vow," she said in a deadly serious tone.

Ginny shrank back in fear but still wouldn't vow.

"Nobody knows where you are. I could transfigure you into a tree and leave you here. Nobody would ever find you. Your mother's clock would tell her that you were still alive and not in danger but even if she thought to look here, she wouldn't think to look for a tree," Hermione said.

"What are you doing?" Ron hissed in fear.

"Making sure my brother and his family is safe," Hermione retorted. "Make a choice Ginny, a tree or the vow?"

"Harry is mine," Ginny said defiantly.

"Right tree it is," Hermione said determinedly, preparing to cast the spell. She transfigured Ginny into a tree.

"Wow it looks so much like all the other trees. You're right, nobody will ever find her here," Hermione said.

"You can't leave her like that Hermione," Ron protested.

Hermione transfigured Ginny back again. "Okay now you know what it feels like to be a tree, do you want to reconsider and make the vow?"

Ginny lay on the ground sobbing still tied to the chair which had fallen on it's side during the transition from tree to girl and chair. "Please.."

"Vow on your life and your magic that you won't harm Hadrian's husband Tim or their children or anyone else he considers his family," Hermione ordered wanting to make very sure the vow also protected her former godson.

"Please Ron…"

"You have ten minutes to make the vow before I turn you into a tree for the night," Hermione said.

"Please Ron. You can order her not to do this," Ginny begged.

"Make the vow Ginny," Ron said. He wasn't prepared to leave his sister as a tree but he didn't want to argue with Hermione in front of Ginny, he understood that the vow needed to be made. They couldn't trust Molly to leave her daughter in the hospital long enough to cure her delusions and there weren't that many places they could hide her.

"Ron you can't do this, you have to stop her," Ginny said now seriously frightened.

"She's my wife Ginny, hasn't Mum taught you anything, Weasley wives do whatever they want and damn the consequences. Hermione's being taking lessons in crazy from you and Mum. I can't stop her. I don't want her ranting like that at me," Ron said imitating Arthur's way of calming down his children when they felt their mother had gone too far.

Ginny's eyes widened in genuine terror.

"Oak trees live for more than 120 years Ginny, that's an awfully long time to be a tree," Hermione said almost conversationally.

Ginny paled even further.

"Five minutes," Hermione said looking at her watch… "Four,"

"I'll vow I'll vow," Ginny said hurriedly. "Give me back my wand and I'll vow."

Hermione thought for a moment then tightening the ropes tying down the rest of her body and casting unbreakable charms on them she ensured Ginny couldn't point the wand at either of them or herself and handed it over. "Vow now or I'll stun you disarm you and you'll wake up as a tree," she said fiercely.

"I vow on my magic not to harm Harry Potter or his children," Ginny said shakily.

Ron heaved a sigh of relief but Hermione dug her wand into Ginny's neck. "Vow on your magic and your life not to harm Tim, or their family." she demanded, not willing to give in an inch.

"I vow on my magic and my life not to harm Harry Potter's husband and family," Ginny sobbed,

"Now let me go."

"Not so fast Ginny, you still need a mind healer to help you get over this obsession. It's for your own good," Hermione said disarming the younger witch, and casting a sleep spell.

"How do we get her to America?" Ron asked.

"I have no idea. I don't even know that America is the right place to send her. Perhaps we should ask Kingsley for help," Hermione suggested. "Or Apparate to Aberforth's and Floo through to St Mungo's and explain the situation. They could tell us how to get her into a treatment facility out of the country or maybe the goblins could help, it's a pity Bill doesn't work for them still."

"I'll go to St Mungo's and ask," Ron said. "I don't think we should involve Kingsley. Involuntary human transfiguration is illegal."

He met with the mind healing department explaining what was going on with his sister and the problem of his mother not wanting her to have treatment for some reason. He explained how his father was prepared to sign guardianship of Ginny over to him and Hermione to ensure she got the best care possible.

"We can admit her here and once we have the guardianship paperwork then we will be able to deny all other visitors including her mother," the healer said reassuringly. "I cannot recommend sending her overseas at this point, there is a lot of cultural differences outside of Europe that she would struggle with." The healer was a year or two older than Ron and had heard of some of Ginny's exploits so had a very good idea what they would be dealing with.

"I'll go get her," Ron said.

"Oh, I should tell you that we extracted a vow from her not to harm Harry, or his husband and family. Hermione threatened her into it. She thought if Tim was killed Harry would come back to her," Ron said sheepishly.

"She had plans to kill them herself?" the healer asked carefully.

"Hermione thought so," Ron replied. "Ginny really believed Harry was hers and his family were in the way."

"I see, your sister will be in good hands here," the healer promised.

"I'll bring her in now then," Ron agreed.

He apparated back to where Hermione and Ginny were and found that Ginny was sleeping. "I cast a sleep spell on her. I don't think she slept the whole time we had her tied up."

"The healers at St Mungo's said to bring her in. They said that it would be better for her to be treated here since some of what's wrong with her is probably trauma from the war, and that once they have the paperwork for next of kin they can keep Mum from even visiting her if they need to," Ron said.

"Okay then let's go," Hermione said.

"You're not going to untie her?" Ron asked sceptically.

"No, I can't be sure she isn't faking. She's desperate Ron," Hermione said.

Ron sighed and nodded. They apparated back to the hospital and went through the process of checking her in.

"It's hospital policy that patients have no contact with the outside world for the first 72 hours, for uninterrupted evaluation. We will start with a full scan for potions and behavioural modification spells, and then evaluate her mental state. Go home and get some rest yourselves. This process isn't easy for the families and loved ones." the healer's apprentice told them sympathetically.

Hermione nodded. "There's something else that Ron probably didn't tell you that I think the healers need to know. Ginny was possessed by a shade of Voldemort when she was eleven. We're not really sure for how long but for at least an hour or two five or six times and possibly for days or weeks at a time, Harry saved her life and destroyed the shade turning her school girl crush into a conviction that they were meant to be together, that he was her knight who came to save her."

"She's never been quite the same, we all wrote it off as she was growing up and hit puberty. Looking back she probably needed mind healing back then but my mum doesn't believe in it," Ron added.

The healer shuddered. "Possessed by you-know-who himself, what a nightmare. Why on earth didn't her parents bring her in for healing after that?"

"Mum doesn't believe in it," Ron said shamedly.

We will get her sorted out," she promised unwisely.

-o0o-

"We should send the memory to Harry and Tim so that they know they're safe," Hermione said when they woke up next morning. They'd gone home and closed the wards to everybody. They'd pinged multiple times but then Hermione had simply disconnected the alerts for anything less than an attack.

"Send mine, I know it needed to be done but I really don't want to remember how you forced my sister to make that vow," Ron said hurriedly. He took his wand and Hermione walked him through the process of extracting the memory.

Hermione took the memory vial to Neville figuring that if anyone had a safe way to transfer something to Harry he would and she couldn't take it to the ministry. She wasn't sure how many laws she'd broken to get Ginny to make that vow.

Neville insisted on watching the memory before he agreed to send it to Harry and put it in his family pensive. He came back out laughing his arse off. "You are terrifying Hermione, I'm glad you're not my enemy."

"You'll send it to Harry?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah I'll have some other things to send him after the meeting tomorrow," Neville agreed.

"Please don't tell people about this, I know what I did was illegal and I don't want Molly to hear about what I did to her precious baby girl. She's going to have enough problems with the fact we're not going to let her take Ginny out of the asylum."

"Harry told me that Ginny had to choose between going to the asylum or making the vow. You're going to send her anyway?" Neville asked.

"We've already had her admitted, she needs mind healing, even after being forced to make the vow she was ranting about her Harry coming back to her," Hermione said sighing. "Ron's gone with Arthur to have him sign official custody of Ginny over to him, so Molly can't just bully him into bringing her home. In all honesty she should have seen someone years ago."

"You're probably right about that. The Ginny Weasley we've known since the end of the war was nothing like the Ginny we went to school with," Neville said guiltily.

"Don't feel guilty none of us were able to help her until we convinced her parents she needed it. Harry had to threaten to have her sent to Azkaban before Arthur would agree and even then he knew he wouldn't be able to hold onto that conviction once Molly started to kick up a fuss," Hermione said tiredly. "Ginny has caused enough trouble, don't let her affect you now too."

-o0o-

"Molly, Harry compared Ginny's influence on his children to Voldemort's influence on his childhood and he was right. The risk of her harming his children was keeping him away from England. I can count on one hand the number of British witches and wizards who had met his daughter before the Longbottom Christening and even then they only came after Neville agreed to engage the manor's war wards for them and the children spent their entire visit behind the wards. Harry wasn't even willing to let Teddy come and visit me," Hermione said.

"Ginny is sick Mum, her obsession with Harry isn't healthy and it's ruining her life. We've sent her to get the help she needs to get well and hopefully have a happy life. You can't tell me that you don't want her to become well and happy," Ron said.

"She'll be happy when Harry comes back to her," Molly said. "What if he comes looking for her and can't find her? Or hears that she's in the asylum and decides she's too crazy to be the mother of his children? The stigma of being committed will follow her for the rest of her life."

"Molly, you know Harry is married, very happily married with a child of his own, he isn't coming back to Ginny, and given Ginny's history of potioning him the Aurors would take him into protective custody and have him tested for mind altering potions. They would arrest Ginny for abusing him with potions if he ever showed the slightest interest in her again," Hermione replied. "They know how much he loves his husband, Kingsley attended his wedding and heard the vows. He isn't capable of wanting to cheat on his husband with Ginny or anyone else in his life, let alone divorcing him for her."

"But…"

"No but's Molly, Harry was here last night. He heard what Ginny had to say and told her very bluntly that he loved his husband and would never come home to live in England because of the bigotry in the British wizarding world. He told her that he was not at all attracted to women without love potions and he didn't even like Ginny as a person and still she persisted in her delusion that he was about to turn around and see that she was everything he wanted," Arthur said sadly.

"But Harry and Ginny were meant to be together," Molly protested loudly.

"Ron and Hermione are right, she has lost touch with reality and needs help. You should have seen her last night. If she wasn't restrained she would have cursed Tim badly, I could understand why Harry and Hermione both believed she would kill his husband and children, they wouldn't be safe near her."

"We need to get her out of there. We can look after her at home. She will never have a normal life if everyone believes she is mad," Molly said determinedly getting up and preparing to be taken to collect her daughter.

"We can't give her the help she needs. And as for her reputation, apparently you and I were the only ones who didn't already think Ginny was delusional in her obsession with Harry. I doubt being committed to the asylum could do much further harm."

-o0o-

"Tim, you've got to see this," Hadrian said laughing.

"What is it?" Tim said smiling at his husband's amusement.

"Neville sent me a memory of Hermione finally forcing Ginny to make that vow not to harm us," Hadrian said.

"Okay, it's great that she convinced Ginny but why is it funny?" Tim asked confused.

"Hermione went totally loco on her and scared her into it, Ron played along perfectly acting like a cross between being freaked out by his wife and willing to let her do whatever she wants," Hadrian explained.

They watched the memory, Harry laughing again, but Tim who'd grown up without knowing about magic and even now was only exposed to the benign spells Hadrian used for healing and convenience was more horrified than amused. "You could really transfigure someone into a tree?" he asked.

"Yes easily, I generally transfigure Death Eaters into wooden chess pieces to transport them back to England. It's the safest way to make sure they can't escape, and anyone examining the set would expect the pieces to have traces of magic from the enchantments normally on them. I do knock them out first though so they're totally unaware of what I'm doing," Hadrian replied.

"But Ginny knew? Isn't that cruel and illegal?" Tim asked.

"I don't know what Ginny would have felt being a tree or how self-aware she would've been but she obviously was aware enough to know what had happened. And yes, permanently transfiguring a human is definitely illegal. It was an idle threat though. I doubt Hermione has the power to make the transfiguration last more than a couple of weeks at most," Hadrian said reassuringly.

"You have permission to turn people into chess pieces? And the chess pieces you send to England, they're turned back into people when they get there? No harm comes to them?" Tim asked.

"Don't feel sorry for the 'chess pieces I send to England, they are all both terrorists and mass murderers, I have permission to take every possible precaution to prevent their escape and they'd be more comfortable being unconscious and transfigured than travelling all the way to England with their hands cuffed behind their back and to their feet and gagged in case they have a spell they can do without a hand gesture. Of course, they're turned back into wizards for their trial as soon as they arrive but most of them receive the death penalty and there's no court of appeals when it comes to wizards. If they're sentenced to death then they'd probably be dead before I arrived home from the trial, and so far all of them have been" Hadrian said bluntly.

Tim shivered. "What if they're innocent. People are found innocent when newer evidence comes forward."

"That's not possible with a magical trial. Veritaserum forces people to tell the exact truth, and there's no reason for any of them to confess to crimes they didn't commit even if the potion let them. The rest of the trial is pretty much a formality once the accused has testified," Hadrian said soothingly.

Tim nodded understandingly, Hadrian wasn't torturing his prisoners and it would be much more difficult to transport someone that could apparate and portkey. But what Hermione did was different. "Your friend Hermione is scary, why would she think it was okay to turn her sister-in-law into a tree?"

"Hermione has always had a bit of a problem with forcing people to do what she wants. I had hoped her marriage would've cured her of that. She now knows exactly how it feels," Hadrian said.

"What else has she done?" Tim asked curiously.

"Well she did it for their protection but during the war her parents refused to leave the country without her. As her parents they would've been targeted by the death eaters and Hermione knew I would need her help to defeat him so she locked away all their memories of her, made them think they'd never had a daughter and had been planning to emigrate to Australia. She took them to Australia set them up with a house and a business, forged all the necessary paperwork and left them there. She went back after the war and unblocked their memories and they acknowledged she meant well but they've had a difficult time forgiving her and they don't really trust any witch or wizard anymore," Hadrian said. "And at Hogwarts she kept trying to free the house elves. She saw them as slaves and wouldn't listen when people tried to explain the symbiotic relationship to her. In her defence some wizards do treat their elves very badly and her first experience with an elf was one who had been badly abused. But she wasn't just trying to convince them to want freedom, she was trying to trick them into accidentally freeing themselves. Luckily she didn't have the power to do it."

"They are terrible things to do. And turning her into tree may look funny, particularly since she's been a threat to you for so long but Ginny was clearly terrified. I know she's your friends Hades. Still I think I'd rather not be alone with her, or to leave the children alone with her either. I can't trust her," Tim said quietly.

"Okay," Hadrian said agreeably not in the least upset by this. "I am grateful she helped with Ginny this week but I still can't help but remember that she didn't stand up and call her a liar when she claimed to have been pregnant after I ended our engagement and didn't do anything to stop the entire Weasley family from abusing me. And the way she ignored Teddy while Andi was alive. She and Ron are my friends but I'd choose you and our family over them every time, no matter what and I don't feel comfortable leaving you alone with her after seeing that either. I have faith that she wouldn't deliberately harm me but I'm a little worried that she could easily convince herself that something is in my best interests and act on it without talking to me first."

A/N: Thank you to Firehedgehog, ArielSakura, Gottahavemyncis, BCgurlie, xDarklightx, buterflypuss, knuckles 8, Rainbow2007, Vladimir Mithrander, CatGirl04, jayswing96, Fyreheart, luramos, The Wandmaker, Silvermane1, daithi4377, sandipi, DarkRavie, Kilare T'suna, Tetractys, charm13insomnia, crystaldove, mithrilandtj, Village-Mystic, Rori Potter, kimbarn30, acherongoddess, Melikalilly, DS2010, Kourtney Uzu Yato, TruGemini, KEZZ 1, lisicarmela, Gime'SS, lilly-flower15, Fallow54 (Guest), mayawene, serenityselena, Moirah (Guest), starie78, delia cerrano, Serpent91, Harriverse, Locket1, mooneysfate and all those who followed and favourited for your support.


	70. Chapter 70

**Chapter 70**

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or NCIS or any of their characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do **NOT** give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

"What do you mean I can't visit my daughter?" Molly screeched at the healer.

"Your daughter is admitted for evaluation, it is our policy not to allow any visitors for the first 72 hours to get a clear picture of what is going on with the patient without outside factors influencing their behaviour. Your daughter will have undergone a comprehensive potion flushing and scanning for any external spells influencing or enchantments influencing her behaviour. After we have those results we can examine her mind for any obliviations or longstanding compulsions that might not have shown up in her magical scans and assess what mind healing she might need," the healer explained again. "Once we have finished our evaluation and determined your presence isn't likely to traumatise our patient you will each be allowed one hour supervised visitation. Further visits will be approved only if Ginevra reacts well to your first visit."

"She's MY daughter, you cannot prevent me from seeing her! I'm taking her out of here right now!" Molly yelled.

"I have her official guardian listed as a Mr Ronald Weasley. She cannot be released without his signature on the official paperwork and he has already consented to her completing the evaluation in full," the Healer replied.

"We will see about that! And I'm going to have you arrested for kidnapping if you don't take me to my daughter immediately!"

"Is there a problem," the head healer asked approaching the young healer and irate woman.

"You've kidnapped my daughter and are holding her against her will. I want her brought here so I can take her home!" Molly demanded, still shouting.

"Your daughter Ginevra, was signed over to our custody by her legal guardian," the head healer said quietly. "If you truly want to help speed up the process I have a questionnaire for each of her closest family and friends to fill out. I'll show you to a place for you to do that now, shall I?" He took Molly's Arm and gently but forcefully guided her into an empty interview room, knowing he had her over a barrel. She couldn't continue to claim to be acting in her daughter's best interest if she refused to complete the questionnaire. The questionnaire itself was spelled for truthfulness as was the chair he had positioned her in, and the glass of water he brought for her contained a calming potion.

The questionnaire started with simple benign questions about Ginny's physical health and grades at Hogwarts hopes and aspirations before moving on to family dynamics, with a couple of questions about her past and present relationship with Harry and other men.

Molly didn't even notice when she started writing down things she didn't mean to write. she fully documented what she'd been told about the incident in Ginny's first year at Hogwarts and that she'd been informed that her daughter was perfectly fine and not in need of any healing or special treatment, and how she'd read the little girl stories about the boy-who-lived and encouraged her daughter to think about being the girl who married him and became a princess. How she had encouraged Ginny with the first love potion, a mild attraction draught and how she had known Ginny had moved on to stronger love potions and done nothing to stop her believing that Harry should marry into their family.

The healer reading these things on an enchanted copy of the questionnaire added a few more questions and then read in confusion how Molly was happy that Harry was happily married with a family of his own, though she was upset not to be invited to her son's (Harry's) wedding and that he no longer visited the Burrow when he came to England but also that she still believed that Harry belonged to Ginny and would soon come back to England to marry her. The dichotomy of the two beliefs rang alarm bells and he contacted Arthur Weasley to meet him urgently.

-o0o-

"What's wrong with Ginny?" Arthur asked anxiously as he tumbled out of the floo they'd told him to use.

"There's something false about her belief that Harry Potter will return and marry her, as if it could possibly have been planted by another and reinforced through magic. Don't get me wrong we've scanned for any magical influence we could possibly detect and not found the cause but her obsession still doesn't ring quite true. What's worrying is that your wife was here this afternoon and to a lesser degree displays the same delusion," the healer said. "Can you think of anyone who might have done that to your family?"

"Where's Molly now?" Arthur asked.

"She signed herself in for a 72 hour evaluation," the healer said, not mentioning that they might have mislead the Weasley matriarch slightly about the possibility of seeing her daughter if they were both receiving the same evaluation.

"Arthur looked more worried and the healer gestured slightly to the disillusioned Auror in the corner that he had enough suspicions to detain the man for questioning.

Eventually they cleared him of involvement finding similar insidious implanted thoughts in his brain though for some reason they hadn't taken as much hold on him. Because they hadn't taken over his normal thought process the mind healers were able to pinpoint when they'd been implanted.

"Whoever did this, implanted the desire for you to have Harry Potter become part of your family approximately 1991," the healer said.

"Harry would have been eleven," Arthur said thoughtfully. "We didn't even know the lad. But that explains why he felt like family as soon as we met him."

"Do you have any idea who might have wanted you to see Mr Potter as family?" the healer asked.

"No, the only person I can think of would be Headmaster Dumbledore but he's the one who dissuaded us from approaching the ministry about his poor home situation and trying to adopt the boy," Arthur replied frowning as he scanned his memory for possibilities.

"So he was invested in Mr Potter's life?" the healer said. "Was anyone else?"

"Not that early, his godfather broke out of Azkaban to protect him but that wasn't until 1993. We didn't meet him until the June of 1994," Arthur replied.

"Even though the implanted thoughts and compulsions aren't as strong in your case I do recommend you have them removed. If you choose not to we would limit your access to Ginevra during her treatment so that you don't try to influence her in the wrong direction and cause a setback in reintegrating reality once her compulsions are removed," the healer said gently.

"Should I also have my boys come in and be assessed for similar compulsions?" Arthur asked.

"Certainly the sons that were in Britain during the early 1990's," the healer replied.

"I'll send for them and arrange some time off work. How long will it take?" Arthur said sighing.

"The actual removal will only take a couple of hours, but we would recommend a day of quiet contemplation to reassess your feelings and memories to understand how your actions have been influenced," the healer said gently. "Do I have your permission to inform Mr Potter of our findings?"

"Yes, tell him. He needs to know. I don't know how you can get in contact with him. He's been very tight-lipped about his new life," Arthur said sighing.

-o0o-

A couple of months later Hadrian got out of bed then sat back down hurriedly and put his hand over his mouth.

Tim looked at his pale lover in concern. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, just a little nauseas and dizzy all of a sudden, guess I'm coming down with something and got up too quickly," Hadrian replied getting up slowly and making his way to the bathroom.

"Tollie are the children awake? Can you look after them this morning?" Tim called, Hadrian wouldn't accept his help unless he knew the children were taken care of.

"Master Teddy be awake and eating breakfast, Miss Rosie still be sleeping, she be up teething in the night, Master Tims," Tollie replied.

Tim was about to go and check on Hadrian when he re-entered the bedroom. Tollie took one look at her master before popping away and returning with a plate of ginger crackers. "Master Hadrians be needings to eat his crackers" she said shoving the plate into his hands.

"What the…?" Tim said confused at the unusually bossy little elf suddenly treating Hades as she treated Teddy.

Hadrian looked confusedly at the cookies for a moment before a shocked and delighted smile slowly crept across his face. "Ginger crackers, Tollie hasn't made them for me since I had morning sickness with Rosie," he explained before hesitantly putting one in his mouth and chewing slowly.

"Oh wow! You think you could be? And Tollie knew? How?" Tim babbled excitedly as he jumped up and raced around the bed to hug his husband, remembering only at the last moment that Hadrian was already feeling dizzy and nauseas and spinning him around in delight probably wouldn't end well.

"Tollie's a nanny elf, specially chosen for her ability to identify her master's unspoken needs so she can care for an infant better and is actually bonded to the children of the House of Black," Hadrian said in an awed voice. "I think she really might know. I'll make an appointment with Healer Roberts."

Hadrian ate the rest of the crackers and immediately felt better, smiling he took out his phone and made the appointment for 0800 the next morning.

-o0o-

"You're late again, I had to buy Rose and I dinner at the Cauldron," Ron complained as Hermione tiredly walked in the door at nine o'clock after a long day at work and a couple of hours of private research.

"I'm sorry Ron I got caught up in my research," Hermione said blushing. It was true she got caught up in the unspeakable's library but it wasn't exactly her assigned work she'd been reading. If she wasn't feeling guilty for lying she would've been irritated at Ron's ongoing refusal to learn to cook dinner even though he was always home before her these days.

"What are you working on that's so fascinating anyway?" Ron asked.

"I'm afraid I'm not allowed to talk about it," Hermione said wearily.

"Well Rose misses you. Can you come home in time to play with her and eat dinner with us tomorrow?" Ron asked. He didn't give an order but he knew that Hermione's vow to put her family ahead of her books and reading would push her into coming home at a more reasonable hour in future now he'd told her their daughter had missed her.

"I'll try," Hermione agreed. "Did you buy me dinner?"

"Yeah it's in the pantry under a stasis spell," Ron replied. "You're lucky you weren't any later I was thinking about eating it."

Hermione laughed. "Thanks Ron," she said dryly.

-o0o-

Tim and Hadrian watched eagerly as Healer Roberts scanned Hadrian's midriff at their appointment.

"Yes, you're pregnant, approximately two months along," Healer Roberts said after casting the spell. "I take it this is good news?" he grinned seeing the two men smile at each other delightedly.

"Yes!" Tim exclaimed as he hugged Hadrian excitedly.

"Is the baby healthy?" Hadrian asked.

The healer cast several more spells causing Hadrian's stomach and then body to glow in various different colours. "It is a little early to tell for certain but you're in much better shape to carry a baby than you were last time and there's no indications of any problems, everything looks just fine so far," Healer Roberts replied. He handed him a brochure. "These are all the standard precautions and restrictions we recommend but extremely few people have access to a time turner, so you may not find it on the list. That does not mean I was exaggerating about the risks last time you came to see me after using it. Do not use it except in a case of an absolute emergency, and by absolute emergency I mean in order to save Tim, Teddy, Rosie or yourself and the baby from serious imminent harm. And you must avoid all extreme magic or duelling unless it is to save you and your family from an unforeseen dangerous situation."

"Yes Sir," Hadrian agreed smiling. "I don't want to take any risks with the baby. I'm going to tell my bosses today and have them put me on desk duties."

"That's good. Now let me run some more specific tests on your health," Healer Roberts said. "The healthier you are the healthier the baby will be."

Hadrian sat patiently while the healer waved his wand around on him.

"Okay you're in great health. Your vitamin counts are good but keep an eye on your diet the baby will burn through your iron levels if you don't keep them up. I'll give you a prescription for prenatal potions," Healer Roberts said.

"And the morning sickness potions too please," Hadrian said.

"Oh dear, already?" Healer Roberts asked casting another spell and writing another prescription.

"At least you don't have to suffer through it for months this time," Tim said. "Is the potion safe to take with whatever Tollie puts in her ginger crackers? They have to have some magical ingredients to work as well as they do," Tim asked.

"Can you call her?" Healer Roberts asked.

"Tollie," Hadrian called and the little elf popped in. The healer explained what he wanted and received a written copy of the ginger cracker recipe.

"They would be safe to take together, in fact there's nothing remotely harmful in the crackers so it's safe to eat as many as you like. Tollie, can I share this recipe with a patient of mine that's allergic to the morning sickness potion? She's suffering dreadfully and these look like they might help her," the healer asked.

Tollie looked at Hadrian who nodded. "It's your recipe Tollie, it's your decision if you want to share it."

"Yes Mr Healer Sir," Tollie said pleased, "Is there anything else Master Hadrian?"

"No Tollie, thank you," Healer Roberts said smiling gratefully at the elf.

"Thank you Tollie," Hadrian said.

"Thank you, Healer Roberts," Hadrian said taking the potions script.

"I'll see you in two weeks," Healer Roberts said smiling. "Take care of yourself and let Tim and Tollie take care of you."

"I will," Hadrian promised.

-o0o-

"We should celebrate!" Tim said.

"Quietly, I need to tell my bosses and my team, but we should keep it quiet other than that for another month or so," Hadrian reminded him.

"Of course, but we could still have a date night. What would you like to do?" Tim asked.

"Honestly, go home and play with Teddy and Rosie, maybe have a picnic in the garden and then cuddle up in the sun once they've both gone down for a nap."

"You know Teddy doesn't really have naps anymore?" Tim asked amused.

"Yeah but we could ask Tollie to take him inside and keep him entertained for a while," Hadrian said suggestively.

"You don't want to go out somewhere? Dinner, movie, dancing?" Tim asked.

"They were both private people, either big on public displays of affection and with Hadrian's love of exotic cooking, the elves to cook for them when he didn't feel like it, a private beach in Hawaii and their regular trips to England they didn't often go out to eat at local restaurants, and most of their outings into the community were family oriented rather than romantic.

"Maybe tomorrow," Hadrian agreed. "There's a poetry reading at the book store and then we could have a late dinner at the jazz club. Or we could go to a gay club and dance,"

"We could do all three if you're feeling up to it," Tim agreed.

Hadrian smiled and nodded. "We'll start with the poetry reading and play it by ear," he suggested.

Teddy and Rosie loved the idea of a picnic, though they were a little disappointed that it was in their own garden instead of out at a local playpark. They were happy enough once Hadrian explained to the that they could have play equipment but they couldn't make the weather warmer and stop it from raining at the park. Tollie conjured them some swings and a slide though and a weather ward bubble to protect them from the cool breezes that were beginning to increase. She packed them a huge feast and promised to come for the children when they were ready.

They played with the kids for the morning, then Tim started to unpack the lunch. He stopped in shock blushing and looking at Hadrian.

"Did they forget to pack the sunscreen?" Hadrian asked.

"No it's here, they also packed lube and the toys from the drawer, all the toys," Tim said quietly.

Hadrian's face flamed. "We'll that's not exactly what I had in mind for this afternoon," he stammered.

"I can't say that I'd be opposed, so long as we can't be seen and heard," Tim admitted.

"Let's talk about it later once the kids are back up at the house," Hadrian said uncomfortably.

He and Tim turned their minds determinedly back to feeding the children and playing quiet games on the picnic rug, Tim started reading a story to them and by the time he'd finished the first chapter Rosie was asleep and Teddy lying quietly.

Hadrian called Tollie who popped them up to their beds.

Hadrian got up and walked outside the weather bubble, he looked back at Tim and saw nothing but an empty garden. He grinned and walked back in noticing that it was considerably warmer inside the weather bubble.

"Did you hear me?" Tim asked.

"No and I couldn't see you either, the garden just looked empty," Hadrian replied stripping off his shirt.

Tim stood up and walked outside the bubble to check for himself then pulled a couple more blankets out of the picnic basket. He laughed as one of them thickened up to become a mattress as soon as he laid it out. "Well that explains why they thought we'd need three blankets in this weather."

Hadrian grinned. "They packed the whole drawer, anything you'd like to play with today?"

"Surprise me," Tim said.

"Part of me wants to stick to the original plan, make slow gentle love then snuggle and nap in the sunshine, the other part of me wants to take advantage of the fact that we can't be seen and heard even though we are only meters from the street and can hear people passing to tie you up and make you so desperate that you'll forget they can't hear you and beg and yell for me to fuck you in public," Hadrian said.

Tim moaned.

Hadrian came over and started removing Tim's clothing slowly. He pulled off Tim's undershirt then dropped to his knees to untie his shoes. Tim placed his hands on Hadrian's shoulders for support as Hadrian lifted each of his feet, removed the shoe and sock and ran his hands over his soles. He reached up to Tim's belt but before he unfastened it he leaned in and rubbed his face across Tim's crotch, mouthing Tim through his trousers. Tim threaded his hands into Hadrian's hair unsure whether he wanted to pull him back or pull him closer. Hadrian pulled back and started unbuckling Tim's belt making short work of getting rid of his trousers and briefs before swallowing him down bringing his hand up to fondle his balls he kept going until he felt Tim's testicles draw up ready to explode. He drew back causing Tim to groan. He helped Tim lie down on the mattress blanket and pulled his trousers off his ankles. He carefully wound the soft rope around Tim's wrists and tied the other end to a tree. Tim still had a fair bit of movement available but couldn't bring his arms lower than his chest. "Comfortable?"

"Yeah, but I'm glad you can heal the marks before I go back to work," Tim said, relaxing back onto the soft blanket. Hadrian got out some massage oil mixed with sunscreen potion and warmed it slightly before beginning his massage with Tim's arms. He massaged slowly down Tim's body to his waist before skipping down to his feet and working his way back up. Tim arched and moaned enjoying every second of it.

"Please," he begged as Hadrian again bypassed his rock hard erection.

"I can't hear you, you're going to have to be louder than that," Hadrian teased him. "Tell me what you want."

"I need you to touch me. Please," Tim begged.

"What do you want, do you want my mouth, or do you want me to ride you or to bend you in half and fuck you until you come on nothing but my cock?" Hadrian asked.

Tim moaned loudly and Hadrian spread him open and cast a cleaning charm before starting to circle his entrance slowly. Tim grabbed his knees bringing them up.

"Look at you spread wide open for me. You know if the charm failed the people walking by would be able to see how hard you are, how you're twitching with desire begging for my fingers and my cock. Do you think they'd be shocked, or would they stop to watch me eat you out, would they enjoy listening to you babble with desire as much as I do?" Hadrian asked, leaning in to do as he promised.

Tim let himself vocalise knowing in spite of the people he could see in his peripheral vision walking past outside the fence Hadrian was the only person who could see or hear him, and his husband wanted him to feel free to make as much noise as he wanted. He babbled and cursed louder and louder as Hadrian swirled his tongue around his entrance and started thrusting it inside.

"Fuck me!" Tim almost howled as he reached the point where his only feeling was need.

Hadrian moved up and thrust into Tim in one smooth stroke. He stilled for a moment to allow Tim time to adjust but Tim wasn't willing to wait. He wrapped his legs around Hadrian's waist and tried to pull him in deeper trying to get the purchase to thrust against him.

"Easy Tim, I'll take care of you," Hadrian promised setting a slow deep rhythm. He knew that Tim was fully cognisant that he could drop their privacy bubble anytime he wanted and the fact that Tim trusted him not to do that was heartwarming.

Tim whined and Hadrian slowly sped up, hitting Tim's prostate with every thrust.

Tim whined, "I need to come," Tim begged.

"I'm close too. Come for me" Hadrian ordered.

Tim let go and came with a scream as he felt Hadrian fill him.

Hadrian kissed Tim fiercely holding him tightly as he came back to himself. "You okay?" he asked.

"I'm wonderful," Tim said goofily.

Hadrian grinned and magically cleaned them up and cast a mild healing spell on Tim worried that he'd been too rough with him and hurt him and refreshed his sunscreen charm.

Tim frowned, as the ache disappeared. "I liked being able to feel you, Hades" he said.

"Yeah but you're working tomorrow, do you really want to risk being slowed down or distracted in the field or having DiNozzo make inappropriate comments all day?" Hadrian replied. "Besides I was really rough I was worried I might have done some damage." He lay back and snuggled into Tim's side prepared to nap.

"You didn't hurt me. You were perfect," Tim said sleepily.

"You were too far into it to notice if I was hurting you," Hadrian said gently as Tim drifted off to sleep. He held Tim protectively, before falling asleep himself.

They slept for about an hour before being woken by thunder. The weather ward was doing its job keeping them warm and dry in spite of the fact they could see the nearby trees blowing in the strong winds and the rain falling. They lay contentedly watching the lightning fork across the sky as Tim ran his hands over Hadrian's still flat stomach, idly tracing the six pack of muscle that was already less defined than it had been a month ago.

"They won't be there much longer," Hadrian said slightly regretfully.

"Perhaps not but you looked equally sexy with the firm round bump before Rosie was born," Tim replied, careful not to tell his husband that the loss of his flat stomach and six pack would be worth it. "And I'll help you exercise again afterwards if you want. It really doesn't matter to me how hard your stomach is."

"I know, but I worked damn hard for this stomach after Rosie was born," Hadrian said pouting jokingly. "It was easier when I was playing quidditch."

"You could play again if you wanted," Tim said supportively.

"I don't want to spend that much time away from you and our family, especially with our work schedule," Hadrian said without regret.

"We should go in. It's almost dinner time," Hadrian said.

"It's been great to have the afternoon off just the two of us, though we don't seem to have done as much with it as I would have liked. I'm sorry I fell asleep," Tim said.

"Don't be, you needed it after that last case," Hadrian said comfortably. They'd worked a child abduction and it had turned out well in the end but Tim had been wound up tighter than a spring, it was good to see him relax. "Besides I napped too. It was nice lying out in the sun."

Tim smiled. "Then you'll have some energy for tonight," he said winking.

Hadrian chuckled. "Well that depends on what you have in mind," he said teasingly.

"You never told me, how did your bosses take the news of your pregnancy?" Tim asked.

"Quite well, Robbards promised to send me some help if I needed Experienced warriors for a takedown and Clancy has plenty of training courses he wants me to give the new cadets. Mostly theory and memory based, nothing dangerous or too taxing. It seems they were expecting it sooner or later," Hadrian said smiling.

"That's good!" Tim said.

-o0o-

A/N: Thank you to buterflypuss, Rori Potter, KEZZ 1, Kourtney Uzu Yato, knuckles 8, Guest, julschristine975, Aelirenn, lilly-flower15, Locket1, Venus914, charm13insomnia, starie78, Martionmanswife, crystaldove, Fallow54 (Guest), DarkRavie, xDarklightx, Melikalilly, daithi4377, mithrilandtj, Guest, delia cerrano, SpiritBlackPaw, Harriverse, Gime'SS, luramos, acherongoddess, AlixMM, Rainbow2007, DS2010, kimbarn30, Village-Mystic, TruGemini, Serpent91, aisa.32, Vladimir Mithrander, jammies2000, Silvermane1, Gottahavemyncis, staar (Guest), serenityselena, Guest, BlazeVein, Larenars, Beth9891, jenniebennie, Dawn of Erised and all those who followed and favourited for your support.


	71. Chapter 71

**Chapter 71**

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or NCIS or any of their characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do **NOT** give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

Hadrian had heard from Ron and Hermione telling him that all of the Weasleys except Bill and Charlie had been compelled to think of him as both family and Ginny's future husband. From the age of the interference Dumbledore was the main suspect, not that that mattered anymore after the old man's death. Ron speculated that that was why they'd all taken his breaking his engagement to their daughter/sister so hard. Hadrian suspected that he could be right but he still didn't receive any apologies from his brothers now that the compulsions had been removed. He didn't care that much, he wasn't of a mind to be forgiving and for them to do that to someone they'd been spelled to think of as a member of their own family somehow made it worse not better in spite of the excuses Ron was giving him.

Arthur and the boys all had their compulsions removed quite easily and were able to return to their normal lives and work within a couple of days. Molly however had been kept in hospital by the mind healers and while she was making good progress and now allowed to have the family come and visit, wasn't expected to be released for at least another couple of months.

Ginny however had had only two family visits, one from her father and one from Ron acting as her legal guardian. Neither had gone well, Ginny had become violent when they refused to take her home and had expressed her ongoing infatuation with the boy-who-lived and her unwavering belief that he would soon come looking for her to renew their relationship.

The healers confirmed that all of the compulsions and implanted thoughts and beliefs had been removed but because they'd been layered on top of Ginny's already badly damaged mind from her possession by Voldemort that had gone untreated they were unable to get Ginny to accept that her fantasies and desires were not based on reality.

The healers had confided that it may be months before any of the family could visit again without her suffering a setback. They had also confided to Ron that they did not currently believe she would ever be able to live a normal life but were still hopeful that she could return to her parent's or guardian's care and supervision one day in a year or two, if Molly herself was completely cured and they were prepared to make a full-time commitment to her supervision. To be honest Harry doubted anyone but Molly would agree to make this sacrifice and he didn't think that being restricted to the Burrow alone with Molly day after day would be in Ginny's best interest. Still it wasn't his problem and having Ginny home to look after would at least keep Molly too busy to be interfering in everyone else's lives.

-o0o-

Hadrian put the Weasleys' problems outside his mind as he concentrated on his own family and the joy of his pregnancy. He was much less ill this time around which he put down to knowing the triggers for his nausea in advance and being able to avoid them and being far less stressed. Last time he'd barely been able to enjoy his pregnancy with the stress of trying to tell Tim all his secrets and settling Teddy into their lives, dealing with the little boy's grief and the stress of going from being a couple to a family of three soon to be four.

He was putting on weight a little earlier but his healer was pleased with his health and Tim promised all the support he wanted to regain his fighting condition as soon as the baby was born. Work was mostly pretty boring being mostly consults and desk based work but he was enjoying the time spent assisting training at the Auror Academy.

Trainee Auror Caddie was repeating her final year on probation and was quite rude to Hadrian as she blamed him for failing her work placement with Auror Fox and his team. Hadrian ignored her but one of the senior trainers pulled her aside and informed her that they were honoured to have Senior Auror Black's assistance and she should be treating him with the respect shown any visiting Senior Auror who came to give them a lesson.

"All the other visiting Aurors have given us a battle demonstration," Caddie said to her classmates trying to stir up discontent. "Auror Black refused. I wonder why?"

"He's on desk duty so either he's injured or ill," one of her classmates replied.

"Or being investigated for something," Trainee Caddie suggested spitefully.

"No, they wouldn't let him come and teach if he's under suspicion, and that wouldn't be a reason he couldn't duel," another classmate scoffed. "I don't know why you don't like him. He was great today. I learned a lot."

"I'm glad to hear it," the head trainer of the academy said stoutly. "Trainee Caddie what did you learn today?"

Caddie blushed and repeated the lessons she'd learned. "That's good, I shall expect you to use those lessons during your next assessment. And for your information Senior Auror Black's evaluation of your abilities in the field were entirely in agreeance with reports Senior Auror Fox and Aurors Becker, Davis and Wolfenden had already given. He had nothing to do with the marks you earned at the end of your work placement. You didn't fail because you made mistakes the day you were with Auror Black, it is expected that trainees will make mistakes. You failed because you didn't learn from your mistakes, and one of the things you failed to learn then or since is respect for your betters. I want you to send him a written apology for your attitude and inappropriate behaviour today." It may have been worded as a request but the trainees all knew it was an order and for Caddie to be reprimanded in front of others meant that Senior Auror Black was an important wizard, even though he did not seem to fit in the hierarchy of Auror command. Caddie wrote a stiffly worded and blatantly insincere apology and minded her P's and Q's with visiting lecturers and Aurors after that.

-o0o-

Tim's phone rang while they were relaxing outside with the children one Sunday afternoon a couple of weeks later. "It's my Mom" he said surprised. He hadn't heard from her since they'd chosen to obliviate his parents for their reactions to his upcoming wedding over a year ago. Tim had made the decision to stop trying to reach out to his mother just as he'd accepted years ago that he'd never be the man his father wanted him to be. Even if Heather McGee wanted to approve of him and his lifestyle, and he had no idea if she did or not, she just didn't have the emotional strength to go against his father's wishes and make her love and approval for her son dictate her actions.

"You should answer it" Hadrian said moving to wrap his arms around his husband. He called Tollie to watch the children while they were distracted.

"McGee" Tim answered formally, putting the phone on speaker. Hadrian erected a silencing charm around the two of them so the children wouldn't overhear.

"Hello Tim" his mother said hesitantly.

"Hello Mom" Tim replied, waiting to hear what she wanted.

"I haven't heard from you in a long time" Heather McGee said.

"No, I got tired of having to pretend to be who I'm not" Tim replied. "In the end every time I lie to you, pretending to be the son you and the Admiral want me to be, diminishes me. It isn't worth it."

"Penny told me you're married. You didn't even invite your family" Heather complained.

"I tried to introduce you to my fiancé and the Admiral was so rude to him and demanded I break off my friendship because he wasn't the right sort, and being seen in his company would harm my career prospects in the navy, before I even mentioned our true relationship. Why would I invite him to the wedding if I knew he would only make trouble? And you wouldn't have come without him," Tim retorted.

"You married a man?" Heather asked, sounding shocked though Tim was fairly sure Penny or Sarah would have told his mother that since they'd told her of the wedding.

"Yes, it's perfectly legal," Tim said evenly.

"But your career," Heather protested.

"I'm not in the Navy, Mom" Tim said calmly. "And discrimination over sexual preference is illegal in civilian employers."

"But what about children?" Heather asked upset.

"Do you mean what about grandchildren to love and spoil, or what about a son to carry on the McGee name?" Tim asked.

Heather was silent for a moment.

"Children are no longer impossible for gay couples Mom, but regardless of whether any of our children bear my name and/or DNA, I will not allow the Admiral to pressure them into joining the Navy and living up to his idea of the McGee tradition," Tim said forcefully. "Nor will I let him treat any child who doesn't want to follow his way of life as worthless. In fact, in my opinion that's a good reason not to give them my surname."

There was silence on the line for a moment.

"I'm sorry I let him make you feel that way" Heather said in a small voice.

"I spent years, wishing that I would be good enough in his eyes, that I could make him proud of me in some way and make up for the fact I couldn't join the Navy with my seasickness. Years thinking that our relationship was my fault, and hating myself because I wasn't the son he wanted," Tim said quietly.

Hadrian hugged him.

Heather started to say something but Tim interrupted her. "And then I became a father and I realised it wasn't the son's job to try to be good enough, to become a replica of the father. It's the Admiral who failed me, not me who failed him."

"You have a son?" Heather whispered in shock. "Why'd you never tell us about him."

"Stepson and I'm damn sure Penny mentioned him to you, he was at the wedding," Tim retorted. "I wonder why you rang if you're not prepared to accept my new family."

"Do his family accept you?" Heather asked.

"It's not a bloody competition Mom" Tim said angrily, well aware that his mother would hate to have Tim's in-laws think poorly of her even if she wasn't willing to support the marriage.

"Do they?" Heather pressed.

"If you mean his son then yes I've adopted him and he sees me as his second father. If you mean his mentor and his friends yes, they were glad to see him happy. He doesn't have any other family," Tim replied.

"Is he there, can I speak to him?" Heather asked.

"You're on speaker. He can hear you" Tim said.

"Timothy McGee, how dare you put me on speaker without telling me. I raised you to have better manners than that," Heather erupted.

"I didn't want Hadrian to worry about what you might have said. Almost anything you say would be better than the uncertainty of what he might imagine if he didn't know," Tim replied calmly.

"You could have warned me" Heather huffed.

"And have you turn into the perfect Admiral's wife and state the party line instead of being genuine? There would be no point in even having a conversation," Tim retorted.

"Your father will never accept this," Heather said anxiously.

"My father has never accepted me as the man I became, not since I graduated high school at fifteen and told him I wanted to go to MIT instead of Annapolis," Tim replied, unaffected. "I didn't need his acceptance then and I certainly couldn't care less about it now. Why did you call me Mom?"

"Penny's here visiting and suggested I should call," Heather admitted.

Tim sighed. "I'm sorry Hades. Penny tries hard to see the best in everyone, for a woman of her experience to be so wilfully blind is ridiculous," he said apologetically to Hadrian. "She hasn't spent enough time with my parents to really see what they're like and that this situation just isn't fixable."

"What do you mean by that Timothy McGee!" Heather screeched.

"That the Admiral is too bigoted to accept my marriage and you're too much of his door mat to go against his decision to disown me when he finds out," Tim said bluntly.

"You said that last time you were here and I didn't understand how you could think that then either. You're wrong," Heather protested.

"Then come for the weekend, by yourself, and meet my husband. Make up your own mind about him instead of disapproving just because the Admiral does," Tim invited.

"I couldn't, I have…" Heather stuttered.

"It's an open invitation Mom, come whenever you want. Wait until the Admiral's at sea if you must, or tell him you're coming to visit Sarah when she gets back to DC next month," Tim said rolling his eyes. "But come with an open mind or don't bother coming at all."

"Tim…" Heather protested, near tears.

"No Mom. If you're going to bring the Admiral's opinions and attitudes with you instead of getting to know Hadrian and seeing how happy we are together then what would be the point. We will both just end up hurting each other further. I'd rather you just left me alone to live my life than come here just to tell me how much you don't approve of me, the man I love and our family. And if you dare to hurt my children or try to tell them that there's something wrong with our lifestyle, I'll never forgive you.

"Children?" Heather asked shocked, "Your biological children?"

"Yes we have a one year old daughter and a second biological child on the way but Teddy will always be our firstborn son in every single way that matters. I will not stand for you treating him differently," Tim said firmly. "Nor will I allow the Admiral try to push any of my children into a career they don't want or let him disparage their achievements in any field they choose to pursue."

"Your biological children or your partner's?" Heather pressed.

"Husband, not partner!" Tim said firmly giving a great impression of a Gibbs growl, ignoring the question he had no intention of answering.

"What does your husband do for a living? Heather asked, having recognised the danger signal in Tim's voice.

"He's a British agent seconded to consult with the Alphabet Agencies though he mostly works with the FBI," Tim replied.

"Does that mean you will be moving to England at some stage?" Heather asked curiously.

"No, we don't plan to. Hadrian will resign and get a job over here if his secondment ends," Tim replied. "The FBI has already said they'd be happy to hire him directly."

"What happened to your husband's parents. Did they disown him?" Heather asked. In spite of the fit she'd thrown over being on speaker, she seemed to have forgotten about it again.

"My parents loved me so much that they deliberately placed themselves between me and a deranged mass murderer and willingly died to give me a chance to live Mrs McGee. I refuse to believe that something so inconsequential as my sexual orientation or who I chose to love could have made them stop loving me," Hadrian said fiercely.

There was silence at the other end of the phone and Tim wondered whether his Mom had hung up. He wanted to kiss Hades passionately for putting his mother in her place like that and reminding her of what true parental love should be but he couldn't do that while his mother might still be listening. Instead he wrapped both arms around his husband and lightly kissed his forehead. Hadrian smiled at him letting him know he wasn't upset.

"Are you still there, Mom?" Tim asked eventually.

"Is it true?" his mother almost whispered.

"Yeah Hades' Mom was an incredibly strong woman. His only clear memory of her was of her standing in front of the man who'd just killed her husband and begging him to kill her if he must and leave Hadrian alone. She would have had plenty of time to get away if she hadn't gone to get Hadrian before leaving. They fought and she managed to kill him as he killed her so Hadrian was saved, she lived a few minutes longer and her last words to him were that she loved him, she was proud of him and he was worth it," Tim said sombrely translating what Hadrian had told him of the battle and the conversation Hadrian had had with them using the resurrection stone into a muggle fight. Part of him badly wanted to add the words 'and you couldn't stand up to Dad for me even once,' but he knew he couldn't be so cruel to the woman who he did love in spite of her failings.

"Your father has meetings in Washington on the sixteenth of next month, I know it's a work day but could we possibly meet for lunch?" she asked.

"As long as neither of us is working a case that day?" Tim replied, making it clear to both Hadrian and his mother that he wasn't interested in meeting her on his own. "It would have to be somewhere near the naval yard."

"You're willing to risk being seen with him near the naval yard?" Heather asked surprised.

"I'm willing to be seen with him inside the Navy yard. Hadrian has met all my team and they know about our relationship, in fact my team leader and our medical examiner came to our wedding and neither of them has ever discriminated against me in any way because I have a husband instead of a wife. Hadrian and the children are listed as my dependents and Hadrian is my primary medical proxy. NCIS is a civilian agency and 'Don't ask, don't tell' is a thing of the past, Hadrian and my family aren't hidden away as if I am ashamed of them mother. I'm not the only gay or bisexual agent at NCIS any more than Hades is the only gay agent at the FBI, neither of us is harassed or discriminated against for our relationship or sexual preferences."

"Okay Tim, I'll meet you near the navy yard somewhere or do you want me to pick you up from NCIS?" Heather asked hopefully.

"You can pick me up, 12 noon on the sixteenth," Tim agreed, realising she was probably anxious about she and Hadrian both arriving before him.

"I'll see you then, Tim. I love you," Heather said.

"Love you too Mom," Tim replied before disconnecting.

-o0o-

"I could take the day off and meet you at the restaurant with Teddy and Rosie," Hadrian offered.

"That sounds good but I don't want them to hear her initial comments. Heaven only knows what she's going to say. I think we're going to have things we need to talk about on our own before bringing her near the kids," Tim replied, sighing.

"In that case a restaurant probably isn't the best option either. Though if we go to the diner or to Luigi's and I arrive first I could discretely cast a one way silencing charm around the booth," Hadrian suggested.

"Yeah I think that would be a good idea. My mom would be more comfortable at Luigi's than the diner," Tim replied.

"That's fine," Hadrian replied, refraining from mentioning that he didn't care how comfortable or uncomfortable Heather McGee was about their choice of restaurant.

-o0o-

Hermione excitedly read the ritual again. The rune circle diagrams and ritual instructions looked complete, there was nothing inherently dark in its magic, though like all rituals it was illegal in Britain. Not that it mattered, they'd already shown that they didn't care about that and they wouldn't be casting it in Britain. This could be what she'd been searching for but she needed to find out more about it. Whether it had successfully been used in the past and what unwanted effects and complications had occurred to the participants and the target of the ritual, and whether the knowledge of the ritual was lost when all ritual magic was banned or there was a reason witches and wizards stopped using it. She looked at the notes that were in the book and went off to find more works that might give her the answers she still needed before she decided to do anything with this.

Hours later she stretched, rubbed her aching eyes and decided she couldn't read any more that day. She packed up her work, determined that nobody would find out what she'd been researching. She didn't want to risk the information disappearing. Nor did she want to lose the chance to be the one to give her friend the information she'd worked so hard to find. She knew there were more than a few people who would happily destroy the information to keep it out of his hands and even more that would try to extort a high price from him in return for the ritual instructions. A price that might lead to heart rending decisions and a lifetime of regrets. So she secured her notes with vicious personal wards and carefully made sure there was no trace of her magical signature left on the books which she hand shelved in the exact positions she'd found them.

-o0o-

Tim had easily cleared it with Gibbs to take a couple of hours' comp time to have lunch with his mother before she arrived. Luckily, they'd closed their current case the day before and Tim had finished his reports and started working on cold cases by late morning so there was no reason he shouldn't take the time off.

Gibbs kept a careful eye on his youngest team member today, he was concerned by the return of several small nervous ticks he hadn't seen in years. Whatever was going on with this lunch with his mother had Tim more anxious than he'd been even on his wedding day. That reminded Gibbs that Tim's parents hadn't been at the wedding, Tim hadn't really explained why, but Gibbs had met the senior McGee years before when investigating a crime on his ship back before he'd made Admiral and Tim had joined his team. The man had been hard and unyielding with his crew and Tim had mentioned in the past how disappointed his father had been when he chose not to join the Navy in spite of his seasickness. He'd never before put the two bits of knowledge together in his mind before, now he wished he knew more about Tim's childhood and upbringing. He hung about the bullpen in spite of needing to go down and speak with both Abby and Ducky about a slight discrepancy in their reports, wanting to meet Mrs McGee.

Right on twelve Henry escorted a conservatively dressed lady up to their level.

"Thanks Henry," Tim said as they arrived at his desk. He looked around and saw his team clearly expecting introductions.

"Mom this is my team leader Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs, and my team members Special Agent Tony DiNozzo and Special Agent Ziva David, guys this is my mother, Heather McGee," Tim introduced.

"Pleased to meet you Ma'am," Gibbs said automatically, shaking her hand.

"Very pleased to meet McGee's Mommy" Tony said, not missing the opportunity to tease his colleague.

"It is lovely to meet you Mrs McGee," Ziva said politely.

"It is good to meet you all too. Tim always speaks highly of his team," Heather replied.

"We need to get going to meet Hadrian," Tim said.

"Enjoy your lunch," Gibbs said brusquely.

"Thanks Boss," Tim nodded.

"How are you Tim? You're looking well," Heather said.

"I am well, how are you?" Tim said, looking his mother over with slight concern. She looked tired and older than he had expected.

"It's been a difficult week, these meetings are very important for your father," Heather replied.

"I didn't ask about the Admiral's work, I asked how you are," Tim said pointedly. "You don't look well."

"I am a little tired," Heather admitted.

"The restaurant is about five blocks away, I'd normally walk it but we can take the car," Tim offered.

"No, I'm wearing sensible shoes, the walk won't harm me, and I'm sure parking would be an issue," Heather said not wanting to give him the opportunity to drop her at the door and leave her alone with his husband while he took his time finding a park.

"Is there a reason you're so worn out, are you well?" Tim asked.

"I'm perfectly well," Heather replied. "Have you heard from your sister?"

"I call her most weeks, she says she's doing well. She looked well when she came to Teddy's birthday party a couple of weeks ago," Tim said. "Do you plan to see her while you're here?"

"I'm hopeful I can see her tomorrow for coffee but she has a term paper due at 1700 tomorrow. Did she bring her new boyfriend to the party?" Heather asked.

"No she didn't," Tim said frowning. "But then she wouldn't. She's still angry and Hades for running the last one off by talking of the FBI and investigating crime at university campuses. She didn't believe it was just a coincidence that the FBI arrested him a couple of weeks later."

Heather chuckled, "I take it, it wasn't?"

"He did commit the crime he was arrested for and he wasn't that smart, he would have been caught eventually. Meeting us just sped up the process a little," Tim said.

"If I give you the information I know about her current boyfriend, can you look into him?" Heather asked.

"Sure, the last one I heard about was Rodney," Tim replied.

Heather told him what she knew and Tim entered the information into his phone before they arrived at the restaurant. "I hope you're in the mood for Italian, this restaurant has more privacy than most in this area," Tim said.

"Bye bye diet," Heather said ruefully.

Tim chuckled. "You don't need it Mom," he said honestly. In his opinion his mother would look healthier if she gained a dozen pounds or so.

A/N: Thank you to Kourtney Uzu Yato, TruGemini, Rori Potter, Firehedgehog, starie78, charm13insomnia, KEZZ 1, DarkRavie, julschristine975 **,** Fyreheart, lilly-flower15, Fallow54 (Guest), knuckles 8, Reader Ethiriel, xDarklightx, Gime'SS, delia cerrano, Village-Mystic, StealingATimeLord, mayawene, buterflypuss, mooneysfate, Rainbow2007, Serpent91, Harriverse, Vladimir Mithrander, daithi4377, kimbarn30, acherongoddess, HeroLeagueClub, DS2010, Tetractys, Tyler'sPrincess, DullReign82, SpiritBlackPaw **,** Silvermane1, serenityselena, Lucky Guard, mumimeanjudy, Guest and all those who followed and favourited for your support.

A/N2: Merry Christmas everybody.

A/N3: I toyed with the idea of having Pettigrew be the one who cast the compulsions to give Harry a family, and Ginny's going wrong because of her pre-existing fantasies of being Mrs Harry Potter. No matter what Pettigrew felt about the adult James, he would have good memories of first year James befriending him.


	72. Chapter 72

**Chapter 72**

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or NCIS or any of their characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do **NOT** give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

Hadrian stood as they approached the table and Tim came up and kissed him on the cheek. "Hey," he greeted.

"Hi Hadrian, you remember my mother Heather McGee. Mom this is my husband Hadrian Black," Tim introduced.

"Pleased to meet you," Hadrian said politely.

"Oh God how old are you?" Heather blurted in shock.

Hadrian chuckled. "A lot older than I look," he said evasively. "Don't worry I'm not Tim's toy boy. I'm gainfully employed and financially independent."

Tim laughed and took Hadrian's hand.

"Mom, open mind, remember. Hadrian is an adult, a war veteran and a highly decorated senior agent, I expect you to be civil to him at the very least. I think you'd like him if you gave him a chance," Tim said firmly. "If anything, financially, I'd be Hadrian's toy boy. His family is old money, and it was hard to come to terms with at first but now I just accept the fact Hades really doesn't need me to contribute financially to the house or household expenses and he accepts the fact that I need to do so anyway."

"I'm sorry," Heather said to her son. She held her hand out. "I'm pleased to have the opportunity of meeting my son's other family."

"I understand that it must have been somewhat of a shock," Hadrian said forgivingly.

"It was, Tim never gave me any indication that he was interested in men or even seeing anybody seriously," Heather said.

"Yes I did Mom. I told you last time you visited me that I was interested in someone that Dad wouldn't approve of but you didn't want to meet them," Tim said. He couldn't bring up what happened last time he'd introduced his parents to Hadrian before the wedding, because Hadrian had obliviated the entire meeting from both of them after his father had threatened to disown him and his mother hadn't had the strength to go against him.

"Did you have a pleasant journey?" Hadrian asked, trying to make normal conversation.

"As pleasant as travelling for business with my husband could be," Heather replied.

Tim grimaced. Spending time in close proximity to the Admiral in a situation he wasn't totally in control of, was generally a nightmare.

"How long will you be in the capital?" Tim asked.

"Well that depends on the outcome of your father's meetings. He hopes to have things wrapped up by tomorrow night so we don't need to stay the weekend," Heather replied.

"He doesn't like DC?" Hadrian asked.

"He dislikes being away from his command, I don't think he has an opinion on whether he likes the DC area," Heather replied dryly. "The Navy is his life."

"Yeah Tim told me," Hadrian said dryly. "I would never put my career above my family. I'm glad I don't have a job that takes me away so much."

"Tim said you work for the FBI? That can be a pretty demanding career," Heather asked.

"I consult for the FBI, I actually work for a small branch of MI6. I've been based here in Washington with the FBI indefinitely," Hadrian replied.

"I love your accent, what part of England are you from?" Heather asked.

"I lived in Wales until I was 15 months old and then in Surrey but went to boarding school in Scotland, though most of the students were British," Hadrian replied. "I think my accent is mostly from Surrey and the BBC though. Tim tells me you're currently based in Florida. Do you like it there?"

"To be honest I hate the heat, it isn't too bad in the winter but summer is near unbearable and I miss Autumn, the trees turning and the crisp nights and warm sunny days." Heather replied. "It's a godsend that we get the coastal breezes or I think I'd melt."

"Do you know if you will be there much longer?" Tim asked.

"No Thomas is hoping these meetings today will involve a promotion to Washington. It will be nice to live near my children again. And Thomas has promised that we will live off base after his next promotion, I would love to have my own home. And it would be nice if we moved to DC while both my children are here, who knows where Sarah will end up when she finishes at Waverly," Heather said.

"Is living on base like renting, with all the limits on what you're allowed to do with the house and gardens?" Hadrian asked curiously.

"It is, but it's also that you start to feel that everything you do, everything you say to a neighbour, all your children's actions may affect your husband's chances of promotion. The higher Thomas' rank became the more competitive and less friendly our neighbours were. It makes you paranoid, you don't know how many of your friends are truly trustworthy," Heather said.

"No Mom, if the Admiral doesn't get this promotion it will have nothing to do with you, your committees or your relationships with your neighbours. His own attitudes and lack of tolerance for mistakes of others will have harmed the opinions of his superiors," Tim said.

"I wish I could be sure of that," Heather said shakily.

"You can be sure Mom. I've met SECNAV and the joint chiefs and none of them tolerate attitudes as closed minded as Thomas McGee's. He's great at following orders but he isn't the type of person the navy want generating those orders and procedures," Tim said. He wished that he could tell her that his father's agreement to binding his magic that had stalled his career at a level he couldn't influence Navy policy, he would never be offered a lateral transfer to DC let alone another promotion, but she probably had no memory of doing it.

Hadrian frowned internally, he knew his father-in-law would never be allowed to work in a position where he could influence Navy policy but did that mean that someone would ensure he wasn't offered the promotion he wanted of would they simply kill or disable him before he could settle into the position and make a difference to policy. He hoped they wouldn't offer him the job.

"How long have you been together?" Heather asked.

"I met Hadrian on my way back from England after my first book tour four and a half years ago, we hit it off immediately and I helped him get an apartment in my building. Things moved from friendship to romance about a year later," Tim said.

"So, were you the neighbour that cooked that divine smelling curry for Tim when he was shot?" Heather asked.

"Yes, Tim and I decided that the first time he'd spoken to his father in years and after just being shot wasn't the best time for me to meet you both so I made myself scarce. I did still have my apartment back then though I wasn't using it much" Hadrian replied. "Tim wasn't expecting his agency to inform you of the shooting," 'or you and the Admiral to care enough to come running if they did,' he added silently.

"Thomas was so suspicious of the neighbour who cooked that curry," Heather said laughing.

"He was right to be. While I didn't have the ulterior motives he suspected I had, I was definitely cooking for both of us when I made it," Hadrian replied smiling.

"So you've got a bigger apartment now for the children. Are you still in Silver Springs?"

"No I bought a house, two years of renting was enough for me. I wanted more security, particularly with the kids, and a backyard big enough for them to play in and it's nice to have the freedom to change things to meet our needs," Hadrian replied, deliberately neglecting to tell her where they lived.

"How old are the children?" Heather asked.

"Teddy has just turned five, he was my godson, his parents were killed when he was a baby and he came into my custody when his grandmother passed away nearly two years ago now. Just after Tim was shot in the shoulder as a matter of fact. Rosie is nearly fifteen months old."

"And is Rosie biologically your child or Tim's?" Heather asked.

"It doesn't matter," Tim said firmly, "She's our daughter."

"It does matter," Heather replied. "Is she a McGee or a Black?"

"Officially she's a Potter-McGee, Potter was my birth name, before my godfather named me his heir through adoption. She will inherit my father's estate," Hadrian replied, not able to explain the real reason he no longer used the name Harry Potter. "Teddy is actually related to my godfather so he will inherit the stuff I inherited from him."

"But is she your daughter or Tim's?" Heather asked.

"It doesn't matter and unless she develops an illness that requires a donation we never intend to have her tested," Hadrian said.

"You can't tell? The two of you don't exactly look alike," Heather said surprised, glancing between them.

Tim pulled out a recent picture and handed it over, Rosie looked like a perfect blend of the two of them, she had Tim's light green eye colour and black hair, Hadrian's lopsided grin but what looked like Tim's nose and ears. If you believed only one of the men could be her biological parent there was no way to tell which one from her looks.

"She's a pretty little girl," Heather said frowning. She had to admit she couldn't tell which of the men was her biological father.

"She is," Tim agreed. "Precocious too. She's already talking up a storm."

Heather laughed, "She takes after you in that," she said to Tim.

"She probably does, nobody ever said I was much of a talker," Hadrian agreed. "Of course, that might be because Sirius was always trying to tell me stuff about how much I was like my Dad and from what I've heard I think my Mum might have been the brains of the pair."

"You don't know?" Heather asked.

"No I was only fifteen months old when they were murdered, and I as certainly not encouraged to talk at all at my Aunt and Uncle's. Aunt Petunia never spoke of her sister but because I lived with her Dad's friends didn't bother to tell me much about her thinking I already knew," Hadrian replied.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know," Heather replied formally.

Hadrian nodded politely even though he remembered hearing Tim tell his mother about his parents' deaths on the telephone.

"I wish you would find out if she is yours. Your father would like to know if he's a grandfather," Heather said to Tim while Hadrian was away from the table answering a call from his boss.

"But only if I can prove Rosie's biologically mine," Tim retorted. "Sorry Mom but I'm not interested. I don't want anyone treating one of my children better than the others because of who their biological parents are. If you can't treat them equally then you don't deserve to get to know them. Rosie is my daughter and Teddy is my son. It truly doesn't matter to me whether she has my genetics or Hadrian's, we are a family and that's all that matters."

Heather sighed but backed down as Tim knew she was in the habit of doing whenever someone stood up to her, something the Admiral had taken advantage of more often than not.

"How's your sister?" Tim asked more to change the subject than because he cared about the answer.

"She's fine, your cousin Amanda's engaged, she'll be getting married the summer after this, Jillie is very excited" Heather said. She was a little disappointed that Tim hadn't allowed her to be part of planning his wedding though she had to admit he'd had a point in not inviting her and Thomas. Even more annoying would be listening to Jillie go on about the wedding while not being able to talk about Tim's wedding in return.

"That's nice," Tim said, though he'd never met his cousin's partner. "What's he like?"

"He's an accountant, he seems nice enough, very calm and down to earth," Heather replied.

Tim raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Amanda normally goes more for the bad boy type like Sarah," he said.

"Most girls grow out of that," Heather said.

"Not entirely. Most women like to think they're responsible for reforming their men somehow," Tim replied.

"And how has Hadrian reformed you?" Heather asked, subconsciously casting Hadrian in the role of the girl in the relationship.

"Well I've been eating a lot healthier since he took over the shopping and cooking," Tim said giving a light-hearted answer instead of a serious one.

"I also eat better having someone to cook for," Hadrian replied.

"Has he convinced you to take more time off?" Heather asked. It had been a bone of contention for a long while, how few of the holidays and family celebrations Tim had managed to get time off to attend since starting on Gibbs team.

"Yes, I do take more odd days between cases to spend time with my family since we've had Teddy and Rosie, but I still work long hours when I have a case, and it's still fairly rare that Hades and I can both get the same long weekend off," Tim replied.

"We're having a big get together on Thanksgiving at Julie's this year. Do you think you can make it?" Heather asked.

"I will be spending thanksgiving with Hadrian, Teddy and Rosie. If they're welcome to come with me, I could try to get the time off to come, I couldn't guarantee it though," Tim replied bluntly.

"I'll get back to you," Heather said hastily. She had no doubt that Tim would expect everyone to know about his family before he arrived with them so she'd be the one having to tell them even if Tim ended up not being able to come at the last minute.

Tim sighed. He'd known it wouldn't be that easy, it was one thing for his mother to agree to meet with him and Hadrian behind the Admiral's back, it would be quite another if she ever developed the backbone to defy him enough to openly support them.

"Very well we will plan on attending Ducky's Thanksgiving day celebrations," Tim replied.

"Clancy's hosting a party for the department on the day before Thanksgiving as well," Hadrian said.

"I said I didn't know about your plans yet but we'd try to go if we were going to be in town."

Tim grinned, "Is it adults only or for the whole family?" he asked.

"He's invited all the families, everyone else's kids are a lot older though," Hadrian replied. "I can take the children on my own if you're on a case, or we could get them sat and have a night out without them. Clancy won't mind either way.

Heather felt a bit put out that Tim clearly didn't seem that upset about not being able to go to his family Thanksgiving.

"You know Amanda is likely to invite us to the wedding?" Tim said to his mother.

"You wouldn't go and ruin her big day like that by causing a family fight," Heather replied disapprovingly.

"No I wouldn't, but I also won't lie to Amanda when I tell her why I couldn't bring my husband and family with me," Tim said bluntly.

"Their meals arrived and silence fell as they tucked in.

"This is wonderful," Heather said.

"Hadrian's is better," Tim said smiling at his husband.

"You enjoy cooking?" Heather asked.

"Yes, I find it helps me relax and I love feeding the people I love," Hadrian said. "I used to enjoy taking foreign cooking classes. It helps that the children are both good eaters."

"You're lucky there, Sarah was the fussiest eater," Heather said.

"She still is," Tim said disapprovingly. "She wouldn't eat half the meals we had last time she stayed with us and was very rude about it. Rosie's already a better eater than she is."

"It's okay Tim, I'll know to ask whether she'll eat something before preparing it next time. She's still better than my cousin was, last time I saw him he wouldn't eat anything even remotely healthy," Hadrian said placatingly.

"What's your favourite cuisine to cook?" Heather asked.

"To cook, probably French pastries, and Indian curries I love the smells as they simmer, to eat I love all eastern foods Indian, Thai, Malaysian, Japanese, Chinese," Hadrian replied. "What about you?"

"To eat, definitely good French food. But I'm a very traditional American cook. Thomas is very patriotic, he doesn't like foreign food. He doesn't even approve of pizza," Heather replied.

"Considering what he's had to watch Sarah do to it I'm not surprised," Tim said dryly.

Hadrian laughed. They'd ended up having pizza last time Sarah came and Tim had convinced him to let Sarah apply her own toppings. Of course, then Teddy had wanted to do his own too, but he at least admitted afterwards that traditional pizza tasted better.

"Who looks after the children while you're both working?" Heather asked.

"We have a nanny. We looked into day care options but they just didn't work with the unpredictable hours we work," Tim said.

"Do you work as much as Tim does?" Heather asked horrified. "She didn't want her granddaughter brought up by nannies.

"No but my hours are even more unpredictable than Tim's and the region I cover can be a lot larger, I get a lot more time off between assignments but then might be gone for a week or two on very short notice, which is why we needed a nanny prepared to be flexible with her work hours," Hadrian said vaguely. With his time turner and lighter schedule now that he'd finished high school and decided to only do one college subject at a time since he was just as interested in enjoying the experience than gaining a degree, he was away at work less than twenty hours most weeks. That hadn't changed much now he was on desk duty even though he couldn't use his time turner for the foreseeable future. They didn't really need a nanny, particularly with the elves doing so much of the caring for the children as well. Still Barbara was part of the family now and they'd need her again soon enough.

"You can afford a full time nanny? Federal agents must be better paid than I realised," Heather commented.

"No federal agents aren't paid that well, but yes we can afford a Nanny? I have several software patents that earn a tidy sum, not to mention my writing and Hadrian bought the house outright so we don't have a mortgage," Tim said frowning.

"Have you got a new book coming out?" Heather asked. She was an avid reader and loved 'Deep Six'.

"I just finished the first draft so it will be six months or more, unless I take time off to work on it which I don't want to," Tim replied.

"Are you going to do a book tour for it?" Heather asked.

"My publisher wants me to tour America, Canada and London, she was even talking about Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, but since we had children it seems like too big a percentage of my annual leave," Tim said sighing. "We're negotiating. Besides there's no way we want to be that far from DC when the baby is due."

"Which of you fathered the new baby? Is it a boy or a girl?" Heather asked.

"We set it up so we don't know, and we don't intend to find out," Hadrian stated firmly. "He knew Tim didn't really care whether they had a girl or a boy, though they needed a boy for the Slytherin inheritance it didn't have to be this child.

"You make it awfully hard to set up the nursery and shop for the baby, not knowing," Heather protested.

"We don't need much. Andi shipped all Teddy's baby furniture and a lot of his clothes and toys along with him, and we have the nursery fully set up. We just need to move Rosie out of it into a bigger room. I was thinking the one next to Teddy's. It's already mostly pink."

"It's close enough and the light in there is good, but what about the room on the other side of ours?" Tim asked.

"The green room. It would work I guess but why do you like that one better? Hadrian asked.

"The pink and black room just doesn't seem right for such a little girl. It's too elegant a pink," Tim said.

"We could always let Rosie choose which room she wants and paint it a brighter pink, or whatever other colour Rosie would like," Hadrian said. "Or we could redo her room and move the nursery into one of the others."

"You can't let a one year old choose the colour, heaven only knows what it would look like" Heather said laughing.

"It will be fine, Hadrian's a genius when it comes to making colours work, Teddy chose orange for the nursery and it has the most warm comforting feel," Tim said.

"I was well motivated to find an orange I could live with, my best mate at school's team colours where bright orange and his room was the most horrendous colour you could imagine, he insisted on wearing it as often as possible too though it clashed hideously with his hair and skin tone. I had some very good advice from Quincy and his team," Hadrian replied. "Quincy was the builder I used to restore the house when I bought it."

"You had to restore not just redecorate?" Heather asked.

"Yes it was in pretty reasonable condition for an old home but it needed modernising and some repair work. It is done now though," Hadrian said minimising the work that had been done.

"How old is it?" Heather asked curiously. Since her marriage she'd always lived in base housing which was mostly 70's and 80's but redecorated in fairly modern styles to remove any and all of the better features of the style.

"Late 1800's" Hadrian replied. "She was a steal because of the condition she was in but under the dirt she was fairly sound so we ended up with a bargain."

"Did you enjoy renovating?" Heather asked Tim.

"I was a fairly hands off renovator but it was fun to see the house restored to the beauty it should be," Tim replied.

"Do you have much contact with your surrogate? Is she the same one you used last time?" Heather asked. "Don't answer if you don't want to, I don't mean to intrude on something private."

"Yes, it's the same one and we have regular contact," Tim said. "She and the baby are doing well."

"I'm glad, you hear such horrors of the surrogate deciding to keep the baby," Heather said.

"That won't happen, the egg wasn't hers and she has already legally signed over her rights to the baby," Hadrian said calmly. He and Tim had done enough research on surrogacy and the laws involved last time they pretended to be using one to know exactly what they were talking about. They were both glad they didn't really have to deal with the stress and uncertainty of using a surrogate.

Tim and Hadrian had a quick conversation while Heather went to the bathroom. "I think she'd be okay with the kids, you should invite her over tomorrow, you could use the time turner to have the day at home," Hadrian suggested.

"I'm not sure Hades, I think she'd be okay with Teddy and Rosie but I'm couldn't guarantee she wouldn't try to bring the Admiral around to clear the air if she knew where we live," Tim replied.

"The wards would keep him out if he was looking to create trouble or they found him a threat to us or the children," Hadrian reminded him.

"I'm not inviting her to the house," Tim decided.

"So, offer to meet her at the park," Hadrian said. "But she said she's meeting up with Sarah at some stage tomorrow, does your sister know not to give your Mom the address even if she talks about having had lunch with us? I would hate for her to try to bring your father to visit and have him driven off by the wards. It would cause problems we couldn't explain."

Hadrian frowned thoughtfully. "Since neither of them know anything about magic or wards then she would think that he was behaving irrationally."

"I'll ring Sarah and make sure," Tim said laughing at the thought of his father trying to come up with desperate excuses why he couldn't visit his son. "What would happen if Mom was driving, not that she's likely to be, or if they used a car service?"

"The diversion ward is only the first one, if the person driving wasn't effected and didn't listen to the excuses then the ward would prevent the person meaning us harm and the vehicle they were in from entering. I would probably have to obliviate them both and their driver," Hadrian replied.

"I have tomorrow off. Do you want to meet the children?" Tim asked when Heather returned.

"Certainly, give me directions to your place and I'll be there," Heather said enthusiastically.

"I thought we could meet at the park about nine or ten o'clock. Where are you staying?" Tim asked.

"Hampton Inn," Heather replied.

"You could meet at the Zoo," Hadrian suggested smiling. "It's central to both of you."

"Shall we say ten o'clock?" Heather suggested. "That will give me plenty of time to get your father off to his meetings before I get ready for a day out."

"The Connecticut Avenue entrance," Tim agreed.

"I'll ring and suggest Sarah meets us there when she's finished with her term paper," Heather suggested.

"If you're sure you wouldn't rather have some mother daughter alone time," Tim said, knowing that as much as Sarah wanted Tim to make up his differences with their parents, his sister would rather meet their Mom at the mall where she had a chance at talking Heather into buying her some new clothes. Her scholarship stipend didn't go as far as she wished.

"Mother daughter shopping you mean," Heather said cynically.

Tim laughed. "She tries it on with me and Hades too," he admitted ruefully. "Though its usually tech she desperately needs not clothes."

-o0o-

Hadrian and Tim took their leave together, and Tim offered to walk Hadrian back to his car, knowing that he wouldn't actually have driven but wanting a moment or two alone.

"Actually, I took the afternoon off, and I have the time turner with me if you need time to decompress before going back to work," Hadrian admitted once they were out of Heather's hearing.

"I was afraid you'd need me if things didn't go well."

"Are you off tomorrow as well?" Tim asked.

"I could be if you need me, but I think it would be good for you and your Mom to spend some time without me," Hadrian replied. "I could meet you for lunch about twelve thirty and go from there if you like. Either to join you or to take one or both children home for naps so you and Heather can talk freely. I'll clear it with Clancy so I can leave whenever you call in case you need me to come earlier."

"That sounds good, I'll ring you and let you know exactly where we will be by then," Tim replied. "I need to walk Mom back to the navy yard and then I should get back to work. If I'm turning time tomorrow, I don't want to do it today as well." He didn't want to turn any more time than he had to without Hadrian, he already knew that he would probably age faster than the younger man making their age difference look larger than it already did.

"Okay, I'll see you tonight," Hadrian said, hating not being able to hug or kiss his husband in the street this close to the naval yard, not that they were normally that fond of public demonstrations of affection.

"I'll see you tonight. I'll call you if we get a case," Tim replied. "I love you!"

Hadrian smiled "I love you too!"

A/N: Thank you to Rori Potter, buterflypuss, SpiritBlackPaw, knuckles 8, sandipi, rmiser1994, KEZZ 1, xDarklightx, lilly-flower15, mayawene, Kourtney Uzu Yato, daithi4377, aisa.32, Hikari-Pandora, Gime'SS, TruGemini, mithrilandtj, Kaorilamb, starie78, rozielrie, Carl-the-strange, mumimeanjudy, serenityselena, Firehedgehog, DarkRavie, Lucky Guard, mother oracle, Village-Mystic, Rainbow2007, dalynch81, Sakihinata, HeroLeagueClub, Guest, charm13insomnia, DS2010, kimbarn30, APridefulSin, delia cerrano, acherongoddess, Fallow54 (Guest), luramos, mooneysfate, jbuggenz1, Serpent91, kirsty21, Melikalilly, Silvermane1, Harriverse, lia (Guest), Arfa, Yuuki Heartfilia-Dragneel and all those who followed and favourited for your support.


	73. Chapter 73

**Chapter 73**

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or NCIS or any of their characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do **NOT** give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

Tim led an extremely excited Teddy towards the entrance to the zoo next morning, with Rosie happily sitting in the stroller, hoping that his Mom wouldn't keep them waiting too long. He hadn't expected Teddy to recognise the area outside the Smithsonian from so far away but he supposed he should have. Teddy was a bright and very observant little boy and he and Hadrian had Bought a yearly pass and had taken Teddy to various exhibitions in the museum as well as to the zoo on multiple occasions.

Luckily, Heather had beaten them there and Tim was pleased to see she had dressed less formally in jeans and sensible shoes for a day out walking.

"Hi Mom! Teddy can you say hello to…" Tim stopped in panic not knowing what his mother would want to be called.

"Hello Teddy, I'm Tim's Mommy, so do you want to call me Grandma?" Heather offered.

"You're Daddy's Mommy?" Teddy asked astonished. He hadn't known Tim even still had a Mommy or a Daddy.

"That's right I'm Daddy's Mommy," Heather confirmed. "What does he call Hadrian if you're Daddy?" she asked her son.

"This is your Grandma Heather," Tim said to Teddy, remembering that Teddy had called his grandmother Grandma when he lived with her. "They call Hadrian 'Papa', it got too confusing with two Daddies. And this is Rosie," he said turning the stroller so she could see the baby properly now that she'd said hello to Teddy.

"Hello there, aren't you a pretty girl in your yellow dress," Heather gushed. She still couldn't tell whether Tim or Hadrian was the father but it seemed to matter less with the baby right there grinning at her so adorably. This was her granddaughter, in love if not in blood.

"Rosie can you say Hello to Grandma?" Tim asked.

"Hewwo Gamma" Rosie repeated as best she could.

"Hello Rosie," Heather replied.

"Good girl Rosie," Tim said proudly. "Where are we going first?"

"ZZZoooo" Rosie exclaimed.

"Yes we are at the zoo. We are going to see the animals, Teddy what animal do you want to see first?" Tim agreed.

Letting Teddy lead the way they headed first towards the wolves and coyotes. Teddy kind of understood the difference between a werewolf and a real wolf as much as a five year old could though he'd never seen a transformed werewolf except in a book and hopefully never would, but he still loved to watch the wolves. The reminder of his birth father didn't make him sad. Teddy couldn't imagine a better life than the life he had now with Hadrian and Tim as his parents, but Hadrian had told him about his birth father being a werewolf and he thought it was cool. He didn't remember the prejudice he'd faced in Britain with Andi as the son of a known werewolf and they'd never come across it in America. There was still some fear of actual werewolves of course though outright discrimination was illegal, but Teddy wasn't a werewolf though he had some of the traits around the full moon he'd never transform and nobody knew about Teddy's original parents. Here he was just Hadrian and Tim's son.

From the wolves they moved along to the monkeys after Heather told Teddy that they were her favourite. The baby orangutan was out on show and tumbled around like a small child on the children's play equipment in its enclosure, making Teddy laugh.

"You're right, I did like your friend," Heather admitted to her son.

"Yes," Tim said matter-of-factly as if he'd never envisioned any other possibility.

"I didn't find him overtly feminine though," Heather sounded surprised.

"Why did you expect to?" Tim asked. "I love him for who he is. He's not some sort of replacement for any girl."

"Well you're not," Heather said.

"Not what?" Tim asked.

"Not feminine in your mannerisms or tastes," Heather replied.

"It doesn't work like that Mom. Yes, Hadrian does complete more of the traditionally feminine jobs in our household, like the cooking and cleaning and child rearing because he works less hours than I do and he enjoys cooking more than I do, he's better at it too having learnt as a child. But that's just the way our jobs work, it's not really a personal preference. He also does more of the gardening and home and car maintenance than I do too. If you met him on the job he's just as capable as any other agent. More than a lot of the agents his age. He's a highly decorated war veteran," Tim said.

"Yes, I realised that talking to him," Heather said. She'd had ample experience with the differences between the marines on base that had served in a war zone and those who had not and it was easy to see that Hadrian had been in battle.

"I guess what I really want to know is why, Tim? Why would you choose to be with him? You've had girlfriends. You had to know it would be more difficult to be with a man, especially while working for the Navy," Heather asked, a hint of disapproval entering her voice and expression.

"I've never felt the way I feel about Hadrian for anyone. From the moment I met him on that plane, looking like he was running away from something he touched my heart. We talked all the way and by the time we landed in Washington I knew I wanted to keep in contact, that we could be the greatest friends. I invited him to crash at my place until he found an apartment and by the time we talked to the super about the apartment a couple of days later we were lifelong friends. The rest came slowly. When I realised I was deliberately ignoring women making passes at me because I'd rather hang out at home with Hades, than go on a date with even the hottest woman that had ever spoken to me, I knew I was in love. Finding out he felt the same was the happiest moment in my life up until then, and every time I think I couldn't love him more or be happier than I am now he proves me wrong in the best possible way. To simply say I love him doesn't seem enough to describe my feelings. Hadrian is my everything. He and our family are everything I've ever wanted."

Heather looked at her son, she saw the happiness that was in his face when he talked about his husband, the fatherly affection he had for the two children and thought about the all-encompassing joy she'd seen in his eyes when they'd arrived at the restaurant and found Hadrian waiting for them. Her boy was in love and he was a father. Tim was right, it didn't matter whose biological offspring Teddy and Rosie were. They were Tim's children.

She also saw his protectiveness and his determination. If she wanted an ongoing relationship with her only son she needed to accept his new family. Thinking it over it was an easy decision for her to make. All her life she had only wanted her children to be happy. Her heart had ached for him during his teen years as he faced bullying at school and impossible expectations at home. She hadn't stood up for him as she should have and part of her regretted it now but she was never one to dwell on regrets. She turned her attention to getting to know her grandchildren.

Hadrian rang Tim to get their location then used his invisibility cloak to apparate to a staff area nearby and hurried out to meet them. He was a yearly member of the Smithsonian so he wasn't worried about depriving the zoo of the entrance fee.

Tim spotted him first and called his name. Teddy looked around then took off running towards him.

"Hey Teddy-bear. You mustn't run off like that it isn't safe and you could have knocked someone over" Hadrian scolded lightly. "Have you had a good morning?"

Teddy babbled away happily, telling him about the wolves and the monkeys and seals. "Grandma Heather says the Rangtangs are her favourite," he finished up.

"Orangutans," Hadrian corrected smiling. Things must be going well for Heather to let the little boy call her Grandma.

"Are they called Orangtangs because they're orange?" Teddy asked.

"No Teddy they're not, they were named by the people who first found them and they weren't English speaking. Orang utan means 'person of the forest' in their language," Tim replied.

Hadrian grinned at him picking Rosie out of her stroller to give her a hug. "They played like people, didn't they?" he said.

"Yeah they have the same climbing frame as me!" Teddy shouted excitedly.

That was no surprise to Tim, Hadrian had re-transfigured it one evening after being at the zoo with Teddy a few weeks ago and Tim had grinned when he saw that the orangutans climbing frame had been the inspiration. "Lucky orangutans, that climbing gym is a lot of fun," he commented.

"Is it really the same? It must have cost a fortune," Heather asked.

"Some of it is very similar. Teddy's is modular so we can alter it as his skills develop, we've been adding to it for years and have recently taken the earlier parts out for Rosie to have separately," Tim replied giving the impression that the orangutans had a bigger climbing gym. "Are you hungry Teddy. Hadrian can only stay for a little while before he needs to go back to work and he should eat lunch while he's with us so he doesn't go back to work hungry."

"No, I want to see more animals," Teddy replied.

"You can see more after lunch," Tim replied.

"Teddy, do you want toasted cheese like we had last time? It was good wasn't it?" Hadrian asked, heading off the argument. "We could grab some toasted cheese and have a picnic over there where we can see the meercats. I think the meercats were Alvin's favourite, weren't they?"

"They are Simon and Theodore's favourite too," Teddy said excitedly. "Can we go see the meercats, Daddy?"

"As soon as we have our picnic lunches," Tim replied. "Would you like toasted cheese too, Mom? Or I do have some chicken salads and fruit in my bag."

"I think I need to taste this great toasted cheese, Teddy's so hungry for," Heather said laughing, impressed with their handling of the little boy to head off a tantrum without giving in to him.

"I'll get the food, you find us a place to sit, Teddy do you want to come with me and help carry the food?" Tim said passing the backpack to Hadrian so he could spend a little extra time with the children before he had to return to work.

Hadrian managed to find a nice sunny patch of lawn near the edge of the meercat enclosure and quickly spread out the waterproof blanket. It had a slight cushioning charm but he didn't think Heather would notice. Heather sat down beside him and reached towards the baby Hadrian had just set loose on the mat with a couple of toys from the bag.

"She's been asleep most of the morning," Heather said.

"Yeah, she's down to two sleeps a day. She should be awake now until about 1500 but she had an early morning today for some reason," Hadrian said pulling out her food and opening the containers.

"What has she got there?" Heather asked.

"Mashed sweet potato and pumpkin, they're one of her favourite vegetable combinations to eat cold. I also have some pieces of cheese and chicken for her and some grapes. She'll probably want to eat some of my sandwich too when she sees them, though toast is still a little hard for her to eat," Hadrian replied. "She always wants to eat and do whatever Teddy is doing."

"Sarah was the same with Tim when she was small. It caused him no end of frustration when she'd get into his things and mess them up trying to play," Heather shared.

"It isn't quite that bad because there is less of a gap between them but I'm always afraid she's going to get hurt trying to keep up with him. She has no fear," Hadrian said.

"Neither did Sarah," Heather said laughing ruefully. "That's one of the reasons Tim became so protective of her, she'd be following along behind him trying to do the things a teenager could do and inevitably she'd get hurt if he didn't realise she was there in time."

Tim and Teddy came back with lunch and they persuaded the little boy to sit and eat his lunch while Tim and Hadrian told him all they knew about the meercats and Teddy told them about how the chipmunks had loved watching them. Which led to him telling his new Grandma about the chipmunk movies, then they went to look at Hadrian's favourite tigers until Hadrian had to return to work.

-o0o-

"How are the Admiral's meetings going? Will they be wrapped up tonight, or are you here for the weekend?" Tim asked as they stopped for ice-cream. Teddy was starting to tire and Tim wanted to get him home before he became too grumpy. The day had gone well and Tim wanted to leave Heather with a good impression of the children.

Heather sighed, "I don't think they will be, he sounded frustrated on the phone. He's organised dinner with some colleagues so I've got to go soon to transform myself into the perfect Admiral's wife and be a credit to him."

Hadrian laughed but Tim tried to look sympathetic. "I hope that dinner isn't too boring," he said.

"He didn't say who we're going to dinner with, or where," Heather replied. "I wouldn't mind trying to see a show or something if we are to be here all weekend."

"Well call me if you find yourself with a couple of hours free tomorrow or Sunday, there are some decent free air concerts on this week," Tim replied.

"I still want to try to catch up with Sarah too," Heather said uncertainly.

"No pressure Mom, it was just an idea," Tim said casually. "Or we could double team Sarah so she doesn't drive you broke shopping."

Heather laughed. "She's capable of sending us both broke," she said ruefully.

"No, she isn't," Tim said quietly.

"You mean you've learned how to say no to your baby sister?" Heather asked sceptically.

"Learning to say 'no' to puppy eyes and act in the best interest of a child is part of good parenting, Mom," Tim said cheekily. Learning to say no to his sister's whining had come easily with Hadrian there to back him up and give him the time to tell the difference between her wants and her needs. And it was a skill further developed by parenting Teddy and now Rosie.

Heather slapped him on the shoulder.

"Oh! Was that your injured shoulder?" she asked horrified, remembering the injury he had last time she remembered seeing him. "I didn't hurt you, did I?"

"Relax Mom, my shoulder is fine. It fully healed over a year ago," Tim replied.

"It's really been that long since we've seen you?" Heather said sadly. "Had you and Hadrian already started planning to have a baby then?"

Tim panicked for a moment, he couldn't exactly tell his mother that Hadrian had been pregnant but he hadn't been told that it was possible for the man to get pregnant let alone that there was a baby on the way, and he couldn't say no because Rosie was born about six months later. Nor could he adequately explain why they would arrange a surrogate and start the process of insemination before they even got engaged or officially moved in together. He thought quickly.

"Yes. We already knew Rosie was on the way," Tim said. "The opportunity came up with a surrogate we liked and trusted and we jumped on it rather than waiting three or four years for her to be available again."

"So, you started planning to have a baby without proposing? Or even bringing him home to meet your family," Heather said shocked.

"We both know how bringing him home to meet Dad would go. He took one look at him and tried to tell me to break off our friendship before he even knew we were more than friends. Besides, it wasn't legal for us to marry here, so it didn't really occur to us, until Hadrian realised that he'd inherited a property from a distant cousin that qualified him as a ratepayer in Boston even though he'd never been there," Tim replied.

Heather looked sympathetic. "That hadn't even occurred to me."

"I'm just glad NCIS is a civilian agency and I hadn't actually joined the Navy or we wouldn't have been able to get married," Tim said.

Heather frowned, "Did you know, back when you refused to go to Annapolis that you might be gay?" she asked, wondering if this was the real reason for the difficulties between Tim and his father.

"I knew I was bisexual. I also thought that my sexual orientation wouldn't matter, if I really wanted to join the Navy I could restrict myself to only dating women the way I did when I started at FLETC. I never expected to feel the way I feel about Hadrian for anybody, man or woman. But I never wanted to join the Navy, it didn't make sense when I couldn't go on a boat without being seasick. Even on the Carriers in a calm sea or on a boat in port I get sick every day and it doesn't ever get any better, I would have been given a medical discharge within months of starting my first tour of duty because my seasickness is caused by damage in my vestibular system," Tim said. He refrained from saying that the damage was his parents' fault because without the memory of their decision to bind his magic they would never understand or believe him. He also didn't mention that the damage had been magically cured by Healer Roberts because the damage wasn't fixable using muggle methods.

"When did you find that out?" Heather asked.

"I had it investigated a couple of years ago after I spent a week out on a carrier and ended up in sickbay dangerously dehydrated, most sailors become accustomed to the movement after a few days but for me it wasn't getting any better and none of the seasickness remedies worked, the ships medical officer treating me told me of his suspicions and recommended it. It means there's an exemption in my file stating that I can never be posted as an agent afloat even temporarily which is a real relief." Tim said.

"You never considered telling your father?" Heather asked.

"Why would I? He already thinks I'm not really good enough to be a McGee," Tim said bluntly. "It came as a relief that I had diagnosable damage that would have prevented me from following the path he wanted for me. It validated my decision to make my own choices for my life. You know I really thought hard about taking Hadrian's name and letting the McGee name end with the Admiral?"

Heather was shocked by that and looked torn for a moment but she didn't have time to stay and sort things out. Tim had already shown a reluctance to believe that his father cared for him and it was going to take more than stating the fact to change his mind. So she let the subject drop, she was going to have to hurry to get dressed up to the Admiral's standards in time to meet his colleagues for dinner as it was.

-o0o-

Tim spent the weekend waiting for the other shoe to drop but Heather didn't get back in contact with Tim that weekend though Sarah called and told him she was having lunch with her parents on the Saturday and invited him to join them. Tim called back and declined claiming to be busy.

"You don't have a case. You would've said so!" Sarah declared.

"No, I don't have a case. But I'm spending the weekend with Hadrian and the children. You know full well how the Admiral would react if I brought them to lunch. I'm not subjecting my children to his bigotry," Tim replied.

"You don't know he'd react that way! You're just scared," Sarah said scornfully.

"I tell you what Sarah. You tell the Admiral that I'm gay and sit back and watch the fireworks. Just don't tell him my address or where to find me," Tim retorted. "He has met Hadrian, he hated him on sight before we could tell him we are together. I mean it Sarah, if your father turns up here then I will know who told him. If he comes here and hurts one of my family, I will never speak to you again."

"Tim, he wouldn't!" Sarah protested.

"Sarah, I believe he would and I'm not willing to take that risk. If you tell him I'm gay and he comes and attacks me at the Navy Yard, I'll deal with it. I won't be happy with him but I won't be angry with you for being wrong about trusting him. But if he comes and threatens Hadrian all bets are off. There is nothing I wouldn't do to protect Hades and our children. I'll take out a restraining order on all three of you if he so much as turns up here threatening me in front of the kids," Tim said firmly.

"But Tim…"

"Don't argue Sarah, it will be my family at risk if you're wrong so this is my decision to make and I have made it! You need to respect that!" Tim replied hanging up on her. In the back of his mind he knew it might have been the wrong approach to give his stubborn sibling an ultimatum like that, but if he couldn't trust her to keep his location secret it was better that he find out now while he knew the Admiral was in town and was alert to the dangers. And he trusted Hadrian's wards to keep any real trouble away. That didn't stop him from going to the electronics store and setting up surveillance camera's around the outside of the ward boundaries even though he had to get Hadrian to cast a notice me not charm on him as he illegally attached them to the light poles just far enough outside the wards not to be affected by their magic.

Hadrian and the children tried to distract him for the rest of the weekend, getting him involved in their games and the four of them went to the farmer's market and brought fresh produce for the week and a picnic lunch to eat in the park on the way home on the Saturday and to a children's movie on the Sunday.

"I'm glad with all the magic in their lives they still enjoy normal things like movies," Tim said.

"Yes but I think we're going to end up regretting introducing them to that one," Hadrian said ruefully, thinking of the catchy tunes that their children were already singing over and over on their way home. "It was fun watching it this time but once it comes out on DVD we're going to be heartily sick of those songs."

Tim laughed and nodded his agreement. "We could always break the disc if it gets too much," he suggested.

"We could. You know we won't do it though!" Hadrian said ruefully.

"Then you need to find some sort of charm to put on the disc so it can only be heard by children," Tim said. "We could make a fortune, marketing it."

"It would be too dangerous unless it was keyed that only adult witches and wizards couldn't hear it. Imagine if one of Teddy's friends borrowed the disc without telling us. There is no way we could pass a charm like that off as advanced technology," Hadrian said.

Tim chuckled. "I see your point but most parents would think it was a dream come true," he said.

"There probably is still a marketable value in the charm if we can get it to work for adult magic users though," Hadrian said thoughtfully. "Or we could put a nonmagical repelling charm on the disk as well so it can't be borrowed by his nonmagical friends. But of course it wouldn't stop us from having to listen to the children's rendition of the songs."

A/N: Thank you to Rori Potter, onidra, lilly-flower15, DarkRavie, Kourtney Uzu Yato, kirsty21, knuckles 8, starie78, Gime'SS, luramos, Fallow54 (Guest), Rainbow2007, xDarklightx, buterflypuss, charm13insomnia, Ashwini (Guest), delia cerrano, caw122182, Firehedgehog, DS2010, madnessdownunder2, Yuuki Heartfilia-Dragneel, julschristine975, Lucky Guard, TruGemini, Criminal Minds Queen, Silvermane1, Lady Kaiki, KEZZ 1, Harriverse, acherongoddess, daithi4377, Locket1, Serpent91, Melikalilly, Sakihinata, mooneysfate, kimbarn30, Village-Mystic, serenityselena, wildcat1144, Guest, Kyoko27, HeroLeagueClub, lia (Guest), , Guest, RainRaven, Merlenyn, Naezee and all those who followed and favourited for your support.

A/N2: Happy Australia Day everyone.


	74. Chapter 74

**Chapter 74**

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or NCIS or any of their characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do **NOT** give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

"I need to talk to Kingsley," Hermione said to his secretary as she entered the outer office of the minister for magic, Thursday afternoon.

"You don't have an appointment and I'm afraid he's left for the week. He won't be back until Monday," Leanne Tinker replied.

Hermione leaned in and said very quietly to her former housemate, "Is he going to see Harry. If so, I have something I want to talk to him about before he goes."

"I'm sorry Hermione he didn't confide in me what his plans were, and I'm not going to interrupt him, this is the first weekend he planned to have off in months," Leanne replied. "I can slot you in to see him at four o'clock on Monday."

"Okay thanks," Hermione said thoughtfully. She walked away disappointed and decided to call it a day early and go home to take Rose to the park for a couple of hours for some quality mother daughter time. She had enjoyed being a mother much more now since nobody was demanding that she give up the career she loved to do it full time.

-o0o-

Sarah rang them Sunday night. "I think she's told the Admiral," Tim said sighing before he answered. Hadrian looked concerned and the children weren't with them so Tim put her on speaker so Hadrian could hear what she said directly.

"Hi Sarah, what's up?" Tim answered knowing this probably had something to do with the time she'd spent with her parents.

"Tim, you were right!" Sarah said miserably.

"You mean I was right about the Admiral being a bigot, and being incapable of letting his prejudices slide in order to be a decent father?" Tim asked bluntly, hoping his sister's eyes were well and truly opened this time. She'd tried to mediate their relationship before and it had always ended badly but her endlessly rose-coloured view of their father and desire for a harmonious family had led her to ignore Tim's request to leave things alone and convince herself that it really couldn't be that bad, at least once or twice per year.

"He says he's disowned you, that as long as you're in a relationship with Hadrian or any other man you're no longer his son," Sarah said crying.

"He hasn't wanted to acknowledge that I'm his son in public since I was eighteen and refused to go to Annapolis," Tim said calmly. "I've known he would react like this if he found out about my relationship."

"Don't you even care?" Sarah demanded in shock.

"Of course I cared. I would have loved to have a loving supportive family growing up. But I came to terms with the Admiral's lack of love and approval a long time ago, Sarah. He's never been the father to me that he is to you, not since I was old enough to go fishing with him and grandpa and spent the whole day being seasick," Tim said sighing.

"But there's a difference between you two just not getting along and him disowning you, he's talking about visiting his lawyer next week to write a new will," Sarah raised her voice.

"Are you trying to make me upset about it?" Tim asked.

"No, but I don't understand," Sarah said.

"There is nothing new Sarah, so he writes me out of his will. I don't need his money. So he's disowned me, I've only seen him twice in the last six years and he threatened to disown me last time I saw him as well. There's not really much difference between being disowned and knowing I would be disowned if he knew about my life. You're acting like it changes things but it honestly doesn't," Tim said.

"But our family is ruined!" Sarah wailed.

"No, your family is not ruined, we are all still talking to you. Unless you told him where I live? You just need to remember not to mention me when you're with Mom and Dad," Tim replied.

"No I didn't tell him. But what if he goes to the Naval Yard?" Sarah asked anxiously.

"He will be at the Naval Yard for meetings next week anyway but I'm protected there. NCIS is a civilian agency and abusing agents is not tolerated for any reason. I'll be careful travelling to and from work and make sure I don't go on the lunch run by myself but the Admiral has to know that attacking me at the office or anywhere near the Yard will harm his career more than mine," Tim said.

"Will it harm your position at NCIS?" Sarah asked.

"I don't think so. Hadrian isn't a secret and Gibbs will definitely have my back, but making an enemy of an Admiral isn't something anybody takes lightly," Tim said sighing. He wanted to ask what his mother had said but if Sarah wasn't volunteering the information he assumed she hadn't argued with the Admiral. He would have to wait and see whether she followed his orders to cut Tim and his family out of her life. He cursed to himself, it would've been better if she hadn't come to the zoo and met the children and tried to re-establish her place in his life if she was going to walk away again. Hopefully if he and Hadrian didn't mention Grandma Heather, the kids would forget about her.

"I'll talk to you later Sarah," he said when it seemed obvious she didn't have anything else to tell him about the meal with her parents.

-o0o-

"She didn't say she was sorry," Hadrian observed.

"She admitted she was wrong, she probably thought that was enough," Tim replied sighing. "And I did suggest she should tell the Admiral that I'm gay and see how he reacted before telling him about you and the children."

"You told her it was a terrible idea to tell him anything and if she refused to believe you she should tell him you were gay and watch his reaction because you knew she wouldn't keep her mouth shut about us any other way," Hadrian corrected him.

Tim sighed. "Yeah."

"It sounded like she told him about me anyway," Hadrian said. "But at least she didn't give him our address. Will he be able to find it through official channels?"

"He shouldn't be, but he's an Admiral. Having someone of his rank owe you a favour would be attractive enough to tempt most junior officers, and I'm not the only one that can hack well enough to find a homeowner's address if he asks. That's why we put up the cameras, and you checked and added to the wards" Tim replied.

-o0o-

"Hello Hermione," Kingsley greeted her. "Sorry I missed you last week."

"Hello Minister Shacklebolt. I have information I need to get to Harry without it being intercepted. I'm willing to swear on my magic that I do not mean to harm him in any way," Hermione said earnestly.

"Is this something to do with his job chasing escaped death eaters?" Kingsley asked curiously. He knew Harry and Hermione had been trying to rebuild their friendship but he was also privy to Tim's concerns that Hermione was too inclined to see her own point of view and fears of what she might do if she believed Hadrian needed her help. Her refusal to call him by his preferred name was a sign of her stubbornness.

"No it's something personal," Hermione replied.

"Please tell me the Weasleys aren't planning on causing trouble again?" Kingsley asked sighing.

"I'm afraid I wouldn't know. I think Ginny and Molly are in St Mungo's under the care of a mind-healer but after I tied up Ginny and kept her petrified in our spare bedroom from the time she found out Harry was here for the Longbottom Christening until I knew he, Tim and the children had left the country and then had her committed for mind healing, her mother and father aren't talking to me or Ron," Hermione admitted.

"You do realise that you just admitted to an Auror that you kidnapped your sister-in-law? I might be minister but I do still have active Auror status as well," Kingsley asked amused.

"Not kidnapped, merely detained, she entered my home voluntarily and I would have let her go as soon as she vowed not to try to hurt Harry's family, she refused and was planning on trying to crash the Christening," Hermione said seriously. "While I don't know of any plans and I don't think Ginny or Molly know where to find Harry, Ginny is still a serious threat to Harry, Tim and the children."

"How did you manage to keep it from Ron that his sister was in the house?" Kingsley asked.

Hermione sighed and decided that telling the truth was the best option, even if she got Ron into trouble alongside her. "I didn't, I told him as soon as he got home. He took Ginny in her dinner and tried to reason with her but all he got was ranting and threats so he silenced her again and left her tied up. She didn't come to any harm. You know as well as I do that Ron wouldn't let me hurt his sister."

"Relax Hermione, I'm sure you were right in your assumption that Harry and his family were safer with Ginny tethered while they were here, and you saved my Aurors the trouble of having to arrest her. I won't be pressing charges. Nor are any of the Auror's likely to take her seriously if she does try to make a complaint," Kingsley said. "Can you tell me more about the information you need to give Hadrian?"

"I'd rather not," Hermione replied. "I want him to get it straight from me directly so I can answer all his questions and he can make a decision unimpeded. I'm willing to take a portkey to meet him anywhere he chooses."

"I'm going to need that vow that the information will not hurt him or his family and that you won't force him to act on it if he doesn't choose to," Kinsley said.

"I Hermione Jane Weasley nee Granger vow on my magic and my life that it is not my intention to harm or mislead Hadrian Potter Black or his family with this information and that I will explain all of the risks associated with this as far as I know them and I will then let him make his own decision what to do. So mote it be," Hermione vowed.

Kingsley looked shocked for a fraction of a moment before he locked down his expression and thought through what she said, checking for loopholes.

"Okay I'll get a message to him but it will take a week or two he's away on assignment," Kingsley promised.

"Can you tell him that I need to talk to him without his husband being present. He can have someone else there and ward the place any way he likes," Hermione said seriously.

"I'll tell him that's what you want, but it will be his decision," Kingsley reminded her.

"Thank you," Hermione said.

-o0o-

Tim had a quiet word with Gibbs, Tony and Ziva the next morning telling them that Sarah had let slip to their father that Tim was involved in a relationship with a man and that the Admiral had reacted very badly. "I'm expecting him to have more sense than to approach me here in the Navy Yard and cause trouble but this is the only place he knows to find me, he doesn't know where I live and I'd like to keep it that way," Tim said.

"He didn't know about Hadrian and the children?" Tony asked.

"Not until this weekend, I've only seen him twice since I met Hadrian, the first time when he was in DC for meetings and heard I'd been shot in the shoulder. Hadrian and I had a fight immediately before I was shot and were still sorting things out, and I'd just come out of the hospital so it wasn't a good time to add my parents and their bigotry into the situation, the second time we went to visit them specifically to tell them about our engagement and invite them to the wedding but we had a falling out before we could tell them anything."

"But your Mom knew, wouldn't she tell him?" Tony asked.

"I only told Mom a couple of weeks ago and she met Hadrian on Thursday and Teddy and Rosie while the Admiral was working Friday. I asked her not to tell the Admiral because he wouldn't accept it and he would forbid her from seeing us. She was excited to be a grandmother and agreed. She's never been any good at standing up to the Admiral but several times in my childhood she got around what she knew he would want by simply not talking to him about things. She wouldn't have told him. It was Sarah that thought she was doing me a favour. When the Admiral complained about me not joining them for a family meal on the weekend she thought by telling him she would take away my excuse for not seeing him," Tim replied.

"Okay Tim, you're not to leave the yard unaccompanied until the Admiral returns to his command in Florida, Tony, Ziva that means you are on the lunch run for the next few days. Cold cases people," Gibbs ordered before going upstairs to have a quiet word with the director. The team settled down to work.

-o0o-

Late the next afternoon the meetings between the Admirals finished and they prepared to return to their commands. During the week the men had been discussing their children and grandchildren that had followed them into a navy career, hoping to use their influence to get their offspring noticed by their commands in order to get considered for promotion. Admiral McGee had kept silent, still annoyed and ashamed after all these years that his son had not enlisted and he couldn't talk with pride about his achievements. Today went a little differently though.

"Hey McGee, didn't your son join NCIS, Tim and his team were involved in investigating a cyber attack on base, he did some damn good work. You must be proud of him," Admiral Painter said.

"Agent McGee's your son? I see the resemblance, scuttlebutt has it that he and his team foiled a terrorist attack that would have taken out SecNav, SecDef and the Joint Chiefs and most of us +at the Army Navy game last month," Admiral Johnson added.

Thomas McGee fumed, here for the first time he heard accolades about his son, the son he had thought would never amount to anything since he'd refused to join the Navy, and to add insult to injury, the son he'd just disowned. He wasn't about to change his mind though, so what that the boy's team had solved some important cases he was still a faggot who refused to carry on the name McGee. His name and family line would end with him. He bit down on his anger and put on a pleased face listening to the men describe the things his son had achieved. Underneath though his anger festered and a more self-perceptive man would realise he was angry with himself for not seeing the man his son had become. Instead he continued to direct his anger at the man who was suddenly not the boy he thought he knew.

He left the meetings and made his way to the Navy Yard intent on letting his son know how disgusted he was with his choices in person. He wanted to make it clear so there would be no misunderstanding, Timothy was not to contact him, his wife or his daughter ever again. The faggot was not welcome in his family.

As a Navy Admiral he passed through base security without being questioned and made his way to the building NCIS headquarters was housed in and asked for direction to find his son. Having been warned by Gibbs one of the guards rang up to warn Gibbs while the other accompanied him up to the bullpen.

Gibbs got up to meet the elevator, wishing Tim and Abby were still on good terms so he could send the young agent down to work in her lab and avoid the confrontation, but if it had to occur it was better that it happened in the bullpen full of witnesses. Tony and Ziva remained at their desks following orders, each poised to jump up and protect their team-mate if it became necessary. Tim typed furiously at his computer trying hard to concentrate on finding Gibbs the lead they needed to break their case and ignore the sinking feeling in his stomach. He wished Hadrian could be here with him but knew that in the long run it would probably only make things worse.

Thomas McGee brushed past Gibbs before he could stop him. "Timothy," he barked.

"Sir," Tim replied politely but without deference. He would not cow before the man. He looked up but did not stand.

"Stand up when I'm talking to you," Thomas growled.

Gibbs gestured for him to remain behind his desk.

"I'm not one of your sailors Admiral, I'm a civilian," Tim replied remaining seated.

"You will stand up when I'm speaking to you," Thomas roared.

"Admiral McGee, you are not involved in any case we're currently investigating. Do you have a crime to report?" Tim asked pulling over a legal pad and preparing to take notes.

"You know Damn well I don't!" Thomas McGee yelled.

"This is my place of work and I'm not a child that can appropriately be scolded and humiliated in public because you don't happen to agree with the decisions I've made with my life. Decisions that have nothing to do with you," Tim said firmly.

Thomas was taken aback for a moment, Timothy had never dared to speak to him like that, he couldn't detect any false bravado either, the boy firmly believed that Thomas was the one in the wrong in this situation. That didn't help his temper at all. He leaned over Tim's desk getting as close as he could to leaning over his wayward son. "You are no son of mine! You are not to attempt to contact any of my family again! Ever! Understood?" he said fiercely.

"I don't believe you have the right to speak for your mother, wife or daughter, I won't contact them but I also will not refuse to speak with them if they contact me," Tim replied. "They have the right to make their own decisions."

Thomas looked like he'd been slapped for a moment before raising his hand.

Gibbs went to step in but before he could Tim spoke again. "I believe you were hoping your meetings this week might lead to a promotion, being arrested for assaulting a NCIS agent will not increase your chances of achieving it," Tim said calmly.

"In fact, it might make it difficult to retain your current rank, or even earn you a dishonourable discharge instead," Gibbs added. "If Tim or his husband are injured in any way, at any time, the first suspect will be you."

"Are you threatening me?" Thomas McGee demanded.

"No just stating a fact. It's true that Tim has taken down some violent criminals, and the same could be said of his husband Agent Black so you wouldn't be the only suspect but you will be investigated," Gibbs said conversationally.

"Now Tim's quite happy for you not to be part of his life, I'm sure he'd even be willing to change his name if it meant that much to you. But that's as far as it goes, you will let the rest of the family make up their own minds. Of course, suddenly having Tim take his husband's name will draw some attention, our team does work regularly for Admiral Davenport, especially as the Admiral knows Tim's been married for a while," Gibbs continued to talk mildly as if he wasn't threatening the Admiral with a public scandal where it would hurt the older man the most.

Thomas McGee might have been nearly so angry he couldn't control his reactions but he was no fool. He turned to Gibbs, glared and stalked off. He couldn't afford to attack either man in public and Gibbs had made it clear that an attack in private wouldn't remain private either. He'd also insinuated that Tim's partner was also an agent.

"Thanks Boss!" Tim said.

"You're welcome," Gibbs said casually. "Are you tracking his movements to make sure he doesn't go after Hadrian and the children?"

"He doesn't know about the children, or where we live. Sarah promised not to tell him and she

actually kept her word about that, at least as far as waiting to see how he'd react to me marrying a man before she'd tell him," Tim replied. "I've set a trace on his cell phone with an alert if he gets within half a mile of the house or Teddy's school. And Hadrian and I spent yesterday setting up security cameras around the house and beefing up the locks and alarm system. He's not going to get into the house and Hadrian and Barbara have promised to be extra careful when leaving so they aren't followed."

Gibbs nodded approvingly but had one final warning, "Don't drop your guard."

"We won't, I know better than most how long the Admiral can hold onto a grudge or a slight," Tim replied.

"Proud of you the way you stood up to your Dad, I know it isn't easy," Tony said clapping his shoulder.

"Thanks Tony, but I have given up trying to win his approval. After I met Hadrian I decided that the price is just too high. And since becoming a father myself I see that the fault really wasn't mine. It isn't the kid's job to be perfect enough for the parents to love, a decent parent loves their kid no matter what," Tim replied.

"Yeah, you're right. When did you become smarter than me?" Tony asked, pouting ridiculously.

"I've always been smarter than you Tony," Tim joked sticking his nose in the air exaggeratedly.

They both laughed at that until Gibbs head-slapped the pair of them and demanded they get back to work.

-o0o-

"Did the Admiral show up like you expected?" Hadrian asked that night.

"Yeah he tried to make me cow to him like when I was a kid. I reminded him that making a scene when he was being considered for promotion wasn't a good idea and then Gibbs threatened him that if either of us are attacked in any way he will investigate the hell out of him and do his best to force a dishonourable discharge," Tim said.

"That's good," Hadrian replied.

"The admiral tried to forbid me from speaking to Mom, Sarah and Penny," Tim said sombrely.

"You know there isn't a chance in hell of Penny listening to him and I can't see Sarah toeing the line for long either," Hadrian tried to reassure him.

"Mom will though," Tim said.

"You really think he could come between Grandma Heather and her grandchildren?" Hadrian asked.

"I don't know but I guess even if he does, we're no worse off now than we were a couple of weeks ago. It was just really good to spend time with her on her own. I missed her," Tim replied sighing.

Hadrian hugged him without saying anything, but inside he cursed Heather coming back into Tim's life if she didn't have the strength to stay.

A/N: Thank you to charm13insomnia, aisa.32, xDarklightx, julschristine975, lilly-flower15, BeepKeeper, starie78, BCgurlie, DS2010, KEZZ 1, Rainbow2007, stkatie00, Lady Kaiki, kirsty21, daithi4377, DarkRavie, luramos, Lucky Guard, Levinson, acherongoddess, jayswing96, siobhan.22, Kourtney Uzu Yato, lia (Guest), catspaw439, Harriverse, mooneysfate, Fallow54 (Guest), buterflypuss, Merlenyn, Rori Potter, Firehedgehog, wildcat1144, Silvermane1, Gottahavemyncis, delia cerrano, sandipi, TruGemini, LadyDrak75, kimbarn30, Yuuki Heartfilia-Dragneel, HeroLeagueClub, madnessdownunder2, Kris (Guest), fayriegirl, Gime'SS, knuckles 8, Locket1, Melikalilly, snuffles101, LoVeInVaInTrYsTiLl, Vladimir Mithrander, Serpent91, musme, Guest, Beth9891, Chanel (Guest), DevilishAngel666 and all those who followed and favourited for your support.


	75. Chapter 75

**Chapter 75**

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or NCIS or any of their characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do **NOT** give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

Hermione let go of the portkey, and was surprised to find herself in the guest room she'd stayed in in Hadrian and Tim's Washington home instead of the beach house or somewhere more anonymous.

"Harry," Hermione said moving to hug him. She wrapped her arms around him and then drew back in surprise as she felt the baby bump. "Congratulations! When are you due?"

Hadrian returned the hug. "Not for another four or so months. Tim's at work, Teddy's at school and Barbara's at the park with Rosie. We have at least an hour. What did you need me to hear on my own? You know I'll almost certainly tell Tim whatever it is?"

"I know you might tell him and I don't have a problem with it, it isn't really a secret, but I still wanted you to hear it first so you could decide whether or not to tell him or to proceed with this. I found a ritual that I believe could release Tim's magic," Hermione said. Harry had been standoffish since the incident with Ginny and she hoped that his gratitude for finding this would help bridge the gap. Though she realised looking at Harry that his lack of visits might have another, happier cause. "Part of the reason I refused to tell Kingsley or anyone else was that this information is illegal in Britain today, not just doing the ritual but even reading about it is highly restricted, and I didn't want to be the cause of the British ministry having proof you were breaking their laws."

"Yeah, but the problem isn't releasing his magic, it's stopping it from torturing or killing him once it's released," Hadrian said. "His body has lived without it for too long. The magical channels throughout his body have all atrophied and the pain of the magic running through them again suddenly could stop his heart, fry his brain or send him insane."

"Yes I know that. This ritual, or I should say these series of rituals, first heals the channels and then releases the magic slowly. You'd have to perform the first ritual a week before the full moon and then on the full moon a week later the second, which will weaken the bindings. Then the first ritual again straight afterwards and every day until the pain stops to make sure the channels are fully healed once the magic starts flowing. Then repeat the series of both rituals every full moon for a year, or until Tim has as much magic as he wants and the first ritual again periodically if he starts to feel shooting pains anywhere in his body. Remember that he's going to have to work hard after every ritual to learn to control the increased magic he has available," Hermione explained. She handed over a sheaf of parchment rolls with all of the information she had uncovered about the rituals.

"Kingsley said you wanted to tell me yourself to make sure I was told about all the risks," Hadrian said.

"There are risks that if you don't do the first ritual correctly, then even the small amount of magic released by the second ritual will burn through the channels and cause excruciating pain. You would need to apply a new binding on his magic and then he would need intensive healing. He'd be in pain for weeks and you couldn't risk trying again once that happened, and there's the risk that the second ritual will open his channels too quickly, and have trouble controlling the magic. This wasn't originally meant to be used for wizards who had their magic bound as children, before Azkaban and the Dementors it was a punishment used for the unforgivables. It's considered extremely dark and illegal magic in Britain. Even though nothing was known of it by most people and there's no record of it being used in hundreds of years the penalty is blocking your magic and life imprisonment for both the castor and the recipient, which is a higher penalty than most ritual magic," Hermione said quickly. "There is also the risk that Tim would struggle to control the magic, you might need to be on the lookout for accidental magic episodes whenever he's feeling particularly emotional.

Hadrian nodded. "I'll think about it and mention it to Tim. It will be his choice."

Hermione nodded. "I Hermione Jean Weasley nee Granger do swear on my magic that I did not bring this information to Hadrian James Potter Black lightly or with the intention of harming him or any of his family, and that to my knowledge I have not mislead him in anyway and have given him all of the information I was able to uncover about this ritual and its dangers. So mote it be!"

Hadrian was shocked at the unsolicited vow, but he had to admit he was relieved she'd made it and that he didn't have to second guess her intentions. He'd heard about the vow she'd given Kingsley before he'd let her come and present this information and was grateful for his friend's protection but this vow made directly to him meant more even though he was aware there were loopholes in most magical vows if you looked for them.

"Thank you, Hermione," Hadrian said hugging her. "Being able to give Tim this choice is a wonderful gift and I'm truly grateful for all your hard work researching this, but don't be too disappointed if Tim doesn't want to go through the rituals. A huge amount of his job involves working with computers and electronics so releasing his magic might mean giving up the job he loves. It wouldn't surprise me if he chooses not to."

"You wouldn't be upset by it if he chooses not to become a wizard?" Hermione asked surprised. She'd virtually lost contact with her family because it was just easier to remain in the magical world where she didn't have to fight her instinctual habits to perform magic to do things. Her parents had forgiven her for removing their memories during the war and been fascinated by some of the things she could do but they were uneasy whenever she drew out her wand and tended to panic if it was pointed in their direction.

"Tim is a wizard already," Hadrian growled. "And no, it wouldn't upset me if he chose not to unbind his magic. It wouldn't affect our relationship at all! Magic is a tool Hermione not a way of life here."

Hermione flushed, "Sorry Harry, I should go," she mumbled.

"Bye Hermione, thanks for doing this research. Even if Tim doesn't want to use it, hopefully it will help other young witches and wizards," Hadrian said.

"I'll write to you, I guess you can't visit at the moment," Hermione said.

"I'd rather not take an international portkey if I don't absolutely have to," Hadrian agreed.

Hermione took the Portkey back to London and Hadrian read over the papers carefully. He had learned a great deal about runes and rituals since leaving Hogwarts and could see several things in the rune array that he wasn't sure about. He would take this to the experts and see if they had a way of improving either or both rituals before he mentioned it to Tim. He had plenty of time. It wouldn't be safe for him to perform the rituals while he was pregnant any way. Hermione had done a great deal of research to find this much information on a ritual that according to the documents, hadn't been cast in centuries. He wondered why she'd put in that much effort. Of course, it could just be gratitude for saving her from the hell of her original wedding vows. He hoped it was.

-o0o-

"What did Hermione want to talk about? Has she decided to leave Ron? Is she asking you to help hide her and their Rose away from him?" Tim asked that night.

Hadrian chuckled, "No I think they are getting along better these days, though I'll never truly understand their relationship," he said. "She didn't have any complaints about him, anyway."

"Did she come to warn you that Ginny is looking for you again?" Tim asked resignedly.

"No, Ginevra's still committed to the hospital by the mind healers, Hermione says it's beginning to look like the damage from the possession in her first year is so great that she may never be healed enough to be safely released," Hadrian said sombrely. "I didn't like her but I never thought she was that mentally ill. I should have tried to get her help before I left."

"You did more than she deserved by not having her arrested," Tim reminded him.

"Perhaps, but the healers think she was already ill. I should've noticed, and maybe if she was arrested they would have forced her to see a mind healer years ago," Hadrian replied sighing.

Tim didn't reply and after a moment's thought Hadrian explained the reason behind his old friend's visit. "Hermione thinks she might have found a ritual that repeated over a year or two would allow your magic to be very slowly released."

"Oh!" Tim replied, unsure what to think. It had never occurred to him that his magic could ever be released from the block it had on it and not having any memories of ever having or using magic he didn't miss it.

"Without harming me?" Tim clarified.

"Hermione believes so," Hadrian replied deliberately calmly.

"But you have doubts?" Tim said perceptively.

"Hermione couldn't find any record of this ritual being used in at least the last three hundred years. And the anecdotal evidence isn't as comprehensive as I'd like. Because all ritual magic is banned in England, Hermione has very little experience or real education in the area of this sort of magic and most books she can get hold of on the subject are centuries old. I would like some experts in it to look over this and see if it is possible and if they can guarantee it is safe to try before you make a decision," Hadrian said calmly.

"If it is safe would you want me to do it?" Tim asked trying hard to sound merely curious. Hadrian saw through him though.

"Honestly, I don't really care if you can use a wand or not. I've never cared Tim," Hadrian said earnestly, cupping his face. "You are the man I love just the way you are. If it you think it will make you happy to get your magic unsealed and the experts say it's perfectly safe then I will do all I can to help. If you decide it's too big a risk for some reason or you're afraid you won't be able to control your magic around delicate electronics or even if you just don't want to explain to Gibbs that you need to take a sabbatical while you learn to control your magic or whatever reason you have for not doing it then that's fine too. Remember that unsealing your magic would mean that you need to wear gloves to touch a computer and you won't be able to go near one when you're feeling particularly angry. I couldn't guarantee that you'd be able to do your job with your magic unbound so you might need to find out if it can be rebound again without harming you if you can't get control of it. I don't care why you choose, only that you're not hurt by the choice you make. The only thing I wouldn't be okay with is you forcing me into doing the rituals if the experts can't promise it's safe. I couldn't bear to get this wrong and torture you or worse," Hadrian said earnestly.

Tim wrapped his arms around Hadrian and hugged him tightly. "I'll be glad if the ritual works to give other kids the opportunity to get their magic unblocked when they're old enough to make their own decisions but I don't know if I want to take the risks."

"I'm fine with that. You don't have to decide now, in fact we can't do it at the moment anyway. I don't know how long it will take the experts to conclude whether the rituals are likely to work and the risks involved. Then even if the experts say that the rituals will work I wouldn't want to perform them while I'm pregnant," Hadrian said.

Tim nodded, "Yeah the baby's safety comes first," he agreed rubbing his hand over Hadrian's rounded stomach lovingly.

-o0o-

Sarah came around begging Tim's and Hadrian's forgiveness, and was shocked silent when she saw the increased nonmagical surveillance and security around the house. "You really think he's that much of a threat to you?" she asked Tim astonished.

"The Admiral would rather not have a son than have one who's gay. Do you know he actually argued against the abolition of Don't Ask Don't Tell, in fact he'd been arguing for decades that it didn't go far enough and trumping up excuses to try to get any officers or enlisted men in his command dishonourably discharged if he found out they were gay. It's a huge slap in the face to him professionally to have an openly gay or bisexual son," Tim replied.

"But you're not flamboyantly gay," Sarah replied.

"No but I am openly married to a man, Hadrian is my medical proxy and my designated next of kin. He's listed on my personnel record as my husband and most of headquarters at NCIS knows this, partly due to Abby's extremely loud tantrums when she found out. Hadrian has worked a few joint cases with us and he introduced me to his team as his husband and there's a picture on my desk of him and the children. I don't believe SECNAV has a reason to know that I have a husband, but on the other hand I wouldn't be all that surprised if he did. The man's sneaky like that," Tim explained to his sister.

"You can't seriously believe he'd hurt the children?" Sarah said shakily.

"There are many forms of hurt, Sarah, I don't believe he'd openly attack them but seeing one or both of their parents beaten in our home a place we're supposed to be safe would be incredibly traumatic for all of us," Hadrian said.

"My belief that he could never hurt a child isn't as strong as yours, Sarah. He would do whatever he thought in his stubborn head was right without considering what anyone else might think or feel, and I believe that would include taking the children away from us or trying to get them to see homosexuality as sick the way he does. I still remember when he put me in the hospital trying to force the seasickness out of me. He kept me out on a boat until I was dangerously dehydrated and delirious from throwing up. He didn't head back to the dock until I lost consciousness," Tim replied bluntly.

Sarah paled, "I can't believe he would beat you!"

"You were too young to remember the last time," was the only answer Tim gave.

Sarah looked at him with tears in her eyes before grabbing him into a tight hug.

-o0o-

Tim had been keeping a covert eye on the Admiral's movements and noted that the Admiral's cell phone was now back on the naval base in Florida with some relief. But he didn't relax the extra surveillance. Hadrian offered to go and obliviate the knowledge from him again but Tim declined.

"You can't obliviate him without obliviating Mom and Sarah and we both know that Sarah will only tell him again if she doesn't remember how he reacted this time. At least we know of the threat now," he said sighing.

"I could compel Sarah not to tell him," Hadrian said.

"Yes but you couldn't compel Mom and Penny, not to mention Gibbs, Tony, Ziva and Vance along with every naval officer we've ever met while out together," Tim replied. "He was always going to find out one day. It would be better to try to compel the Admiral to stay away from us, unless you could compel him to accept us."

"It would be too big a risk. He's a strong-minded man and there's no way to tell if his stubbornness would one day overcome the magic," Hadrian replied, sighing resignedly. "And we couldn't change his personality too much. Someone would notice and investigate."

-o0o-

It was more than a week before Heather telephoned Tim, and then she called him at work instead of on his cell phone.

"McGee," Tim answered absently, still setting up computer searches for their latest case.

"Tim it's me, your mother," Heather said hesitantly.

"Mom, is everything okay?" Tim asked urgently. 

"Yes I'm fine and the family is all well. Sarah and your father have had a falling out over you she said to him that in all the years the two of you weren't talking that you never encouraged her to take your side or to break off ties with him much less ordered you to and since he was forcing her to choose between you she was choosing you," Heather said.

"And you decided to ring me up and see if I can calm her down and get her to be reasonable," Tim guessed cynically.

"Noo. In this instance I believe that it is your father that was the one acting unreasonably," Heather said, upset by Tim's assumption though she could understand why he thought she might've reacted that way. "He's upset that he didn't get the promotion to Washington and he's trying to blame it on the shame of having a gay son."

"Don't make excuses for him Mom, we both know that's bullshit and he does too. Besides he didn't know about his promotion when he gave you and Sarah that ultimatum," Tim reminded her. "In fact, I couldn't guarantee that his marching into NCIS and threatening me at my desk in sight of the director and half the NCIS teams in the Navy Yard didn't influence Davenport's decision to promote someone else."

"He didn't?" Heather whispered horrified.

"Don't worry my boss threatened him right back and of the two of them Gibbs was definitely scarier. The Admiral was forced to back down. It was interesting to watch," Tim replied. His computer dinged. "I've got to get back to work, Mom, we're in the middle of a case and my search has turned up a result that might give us a lead."

"Okay Tim, I'll talk to you soon," Heather promised. "Give my love to the children, and Hadrian too."

Tim smiled. "I will Mom, take care of yourself. Love you."

"I love you too Tim," Heather said almost tearfully.

-o0o-

It was several weeks later before they heard from Penny, but Tim wasn't worried about that. She often seemed to drop of the face of the civilised world and bury herself in places with patchy cell phone reception and no internet connection for weeks or months on end, and he knew she had never taken directions from others well. The Admiral's attempt to forbid her from doing anything would've made her determined to go straight out and do it. That he was trying to force her to lose contact with her grandson would likely lead to her blasting him with her temper before totally putting it out of her mind. Tim hoped that the only lasting effect it would have would be to stop her from continuing to try to force a reconciliation between her son and grandson.

Eventually she sent a postcard telling him she was in Africa on her way to an undisclosed mission and would contact him when she got back. She admitted that she had heard from his father but told him not to worry about that nonsense and that she'd call him as soon as she could.

Tim laughed at her comments and stuck the postcard on the front of the fridge to share with Hadrian later and be able to read it again if he got despondent about the loss of his family.

-o0o-

"Grab your go bags, we're going to Hawaii," Gibbs ordered a couple of months later.

Tim groaned internally though he was careful not to protest out loud when he heard Gibbs, then grabbed his go bag, thankful that Hadrian had put a mild expansion charm on it to allow him to carry a few changes of clothing suitable to most climates. Tony cheered and started chattering about Hawaiian beaches and girls in bikinis.

"Isn't there an NCIS office in Hawaii that can deal with it?" Ziva asked, exchanging an eyeroll with Tim over DiNozzo's enthusiasm.

"There is but their MCRT is down a member and currently swamped with local cases, so as this is related to the triple homicide we're investigating, we've been cleared to go and give them a hand with it. Move people we need to be at Andrew's airfield by 1900 and with the traffic this time of day it will take us that long to get there," Gibbs barked.

They scrambled, piling into the car and Tim rang Hadrian as they left the yard, leaving a message with Barbara.

"Hi Barbara. It's Tim, can you let Hades and the kids know I'm going away on a case and I'm not sure how long I'll be I'll try to ring Teddy and Rosie at 0700 your time, tell Hades I'm headed for the NCIS office in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii if he needs to get in contact, but it might be better if you don't tell Teddy that. He wouldn't understand that it's work," Tim said.

"Okay Tim, have a safe trip," Barbara said cheerfully.

"Hadrian isn't gone as well is he?" Tim asked surprised Barbara wasn't asking Tim if he wanted to speak to his husband.

"Oh no, he's upstairs bathing the children," Barbara replied calmingly. "I'd offer to take the phone up to him, but I think he might have climbed in with them. They've all been finger-painting out on the lawn. He said something about baby hand and footprints for her book."

"Was his back aching?" Tim asked concerned.

"He didn't say but it didn't appear to be, I think he was more concerned about getting the paint and pink glitter off his skin," Barbara said. "He was quite a sight and before you ask, yes I did get a few good photographs."

Tim laughed. "No don't disturb him, tell him where I'm gone when he gets out and that I'll try to ring him later."

His cell phone buzzed a moment later and he grinned at the pictures of his love and children, covered in blue and pink paint and pink glitter. He saved it in his files and returned to work before Tony, Ziva or Gibbs could question him about it.

"Don't you and Hadrian own a house in Hawaii?" Tony asked fishing for an invitation as they sat prepared for take off.

"It's peak tourist season. It would be good for the budget if it's convenient for us to stay there," Gibbs said.

"Yeah otherwise we'll end up in some rat infested dinky little motel miles from anywhere we need to be" Tony added.

"Thanks Boss" he added facetiously as Gibbs head slapped him.

"I would like to see your home, McGee," Ziva said smiling.

"Indeed yes Timothy. Has it been in Hadrian's family long?" Ducky put in.

"Yes, we do have a house in Hawaii, but I'm afraid we can't stay there during the case, it's on the wrong island and travel between them is too time consuming and inconvenient," Tim replied. "I'll ask Hadrian but I'm sure you'd be welcome to go spend a couple of days there on your way home if you like, I'll take you across and show you around, but I for one, want to get home to my family as soon as possible since Hadrian can't come out and join us. We don't want to be too far away at the moment," he added maintaining the fiction that they had a surrogate they needed to keep in touch with, rather than it being Hadrian that couldn't keep his glamours up to hide his pregnancy in front of muggle houseguests.

"That's understandable my dear boy" Ducky said smiling.

"Is the house big enough for all of us?" Ziva asked suspiciously.

"Yeah it's a big old plantation house. It's not quite up to your usual standards though Tony. There's no electricity but there is running water in the kitchen and downstairs bathroom and the house itself is clean enough and in good condition. No rats or serious bug infestations. There's a wood stove in the kitchen, no refrigeration so we eat mainly fruits, vegetables and breads while we're there, but its only about fifty minutes' walk along the beach into town, there's no transport at the house, and no reliable taxi on the island, even if there was the road's overgrown to the point of being unusable by anything other than an off road bike or quadbike, though you could possibly hire a small boat, there is a jetty near the house that Hadrian says is usable. There's a double bedroom and two single bedrooms as well as the master suite set up for use. I don't think the rest of the bedrooms are furnished, or if they are they were furnished back in the 18th or early 19th century, so I wouldn't trust the mattresses. Hadrian inherited it from a distant relative like the house in Boston so it's not exactly a family home to him, and like that house, the family hasn't lived there for quite some time, but this one hasn't been renovated in at least the last century. There are ten acres, including a private beach"

"How do you get there then?" Ziva asked curiously.

"We normally walk from the village, or hire a powerboat" Tim replied not able to tell them they arrived by portkey and flew about the property on brooms.

Gibbs thought back to the house in Boston where they held the wedding. The house had been an odd juxtaposition of recently perfectly decorated rooms for their use but beyond the area they were in the rest of the house looked like deserted for nearly a century and creepy enough that it could easily be rented out to a movie company to use as a set for a haunted house. If Tim was saying that the house in Hawaii was an old plantation house unrenovated, without modern plumbing and not wired for electricity then it was possible it hadn't been lived in for a very long time. Tim had joked about indoor camping in Hawaii and it was possible that the house was like an oversized rustic cabin. Personally, he didn't mind but he decided to have a quiet word with the others before they decided to stay behind. Listening to his team whinge about the conditions wasn't his idea of a relaxing long weekend.'

He had a more immediate concern though, "Ten acres with a deserted house and usable jetty, would make a good place for smugglers to bring goods ashore, what security do you have when you're not there? I'd hate for you to walk into something like that with the children," he said concerned.

Tim couldn't tell him that the property was actually home to a thriving potions ingredient export business and more than half a dozen house elves, and was warded against intruders, so he made light of the situation.

"We've never seen any sign that the jetty's been used when we're not there, the island's too small to be a major importer of illegal drugs, though Hadrian did tell me that the family journals said the ancestor who bought the property had used the island as a pirate base and to smuggle rum," Tim said.

Tony laughed, "A real smuggler's den," he said enthusiastically. "We have to visit!"

"Don't get too excited, I think the current house was built a couple of hundred years later," Tim said amused.

"Are there smuggler's caves?" Tony asked.

"I've never seen any, but I've never been looking either," Tim replied.

"How can you be so boring, you were staying in a pirates' den and you never went looking for treasure?" Tony asked disbelievingly.

"Like I said the house has been totally pulled down and rebuilt and the property was lived in by the family for centuries, there's been generations of boys grow up there playing pirate on that beach. I highly doubt there's anything left to find," Tim said placidly.

"I think Tim and Hadrian had better things to do on a deserted island paradise than play pirates and explore dank dark holes in rocks, Tony," Gibbs said smirking.

Tim blushed and the subject of the house was dropped. The course of the case took them back to DC before they closed it so any talk of staying in Tim's holiday house was shelved for the indefinite future until they needed to go and help out the Pearl Harbor office some time or were all forced to take their excess comp time and leave.

A/N: Thank you to sandipi, colubrum, aisa.32, lilly-flower15, Fyreheart, KEZZ 1, Rainbow2007, xDarklightx, kimbarn30, caged21hearts, Gime'SS, julschristine975, buterflypuss, DS2010, mithrilandtj, knuckles 8, Lady Kaiki, daithi4377, Lucky Guard, wildcat1144, madnessdownunder2, Serpent91, mayawene, mooneysfate, siobhan.22, Rori Potter, kirsty21, Mae Rose, Guest, Village-Mystic, SpiritBlackPaw, Love life and Have fun, lia (Guest), Guest and all those who followed and favourited for your support.


	76. Chapter 76

**Chapter 76**

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or NCIS or any of their characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do **NOT** give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

It took months for the ritual experts to fully assess the two rituals and be certain that they would do exactly what the literature Hermione had found claimed they would. With Hadrian's permission the researchers even tried it on a woman who had had her magic bound when her mental health started causing uncontrollable violent accidental magic but whose schizophrenia had now resolved itself with treatment.

They did warn the witch that they would require her to check in with her healer regularly and that if she ever went off her medication and relapsed they would rebind her magic with or without her consent. To that end, and with her agreement, they placed an unremovable tracking charmed necklace on her so that if she did become unwell again and started avoiding her healer she could be found and helped. The rituals worked, her magic was unblocked with minimal pain and the subject only took a month or two to regain control over her magic. She'd been a young adult when her magic had originally been bound four years earlier and testing showed that the rituals had returned her to a similar level of magic as her pre-existing tests at the end of her seventh year. They theorised that if her magic hadn't been bound it normally would have grown a little more than this, but the fact that it hadn't was actually a promising sign that perhaps the people who'd had their magic bound as children may not have as much difficulty learning to control it as they thought if their magic hadn't grown as much under the binding as it would otherwise have. It remained to be seen whether the witch tested would gain the magical increase she should have got over time or whether her magical potential was permanently weakened.

-o0o-

During that time Tim had been thinking long and hard, he'd asked Hadrian and his team mates to tell him stories of their accidental magic outbursts when they were children and asked them if they all had as much problems using computers and cell phones as Hadrian did.

Clancy laughed at him. "I've never met anybody who has as much trouble with computers as Agent Black, I think it's partly because he grew up in Britain and was taught to believe his magic would affect them so the magic does what he believes it will. Magic can be very unscientific, almost sentient, like that sometimes, and the stronger the wizard or the belief the more likely their magic is to follow the belief no matter if it isn't true for anyone else, but Black's also the most powerful wizard in my command so he releases more magical bleed off than most of us. My son has had some issues though and damaged his computer beyond repair when he lost his temper over a cyber bullying incident. You will notice that our Aurors are all wearing neoprene gloves while using the computers to protect them from transference through their hands and are encouraged to take regular breaks to go and fire some spells and bleed off any excess magic, and if they were working on a case that involves children or anything they're likely to react to emotionally they are also able to work in a more secure space where the entire computer other than the keyboard is behind magically toughened glass, that's enough to prevent the computer from being affected. We still have to replace the keyboards fairly regularly but the precautions do make a difference."

"I couldn't do any of those things while working for a non-magical agency," Tim said frowning.

"Tim, if you've made a decision and you're worried about Hadrian's reaction if you were to tell him you don't want to unbind your magic, or alternatively that you want to do it but are worried because you'd have to give up your job before you complete the ritual and couldn't continue to pay your share of the household expenses then don't be. I honestly don't think Hadrian would care either way so long as you were happy. Lord Potter-Black-yadayadayada-and-all-the-rest-of-it is an exceptionally wealthy man and I know several healers and officials who have been looking for a way to unbind a child's magic once they're old enough to decide for themselves. They've been quite vocal about looking for financial support to research a safe way to release magical bindings, and in spite of the fact that I know for certain Hadrian gives tens of thousands of Galleons to dozens of different pet charities, including supporting the group trying to change the legislation that would prevent a parent from being able to make this decision for their children without the child's consent, that research into reversing the blocks has never been among the things he supports. He didn't do this original research and I'm fairly sure he never asked his friend in Britain to do it either, and the only thing he insisted on as the experts researched it was that they not be allowed to try it until they could absolutely guarantee that the children would not be harmed by it."

"Maybe because he didn't think it would ever be successful and didn't want to risk torturing children by releasing their magic if they couldn't prevent it from burning out the atrophied channels. He's spent quite a lot of money to run electricity and mundane plumbing at his family home in Boston before he took me there so I had lights and things I can control and he's going to have to spend an absolute fortune to do the same in our beach house in Hawaii," Tim said.

"Like I said he has the money to do it, have you ever heard him grumble at all about the expense or the difficulty of having to organise that?" Clancy asked pointedly.

"No he was quite excited about building a theatre room and showing his British friends the magic of movies and television when they visit us in Hawaii next year," Tim said smiling in reminiscence.

"Then stop worrying and just tell him. That man loves you beyond rhyme and reason, he isn't going to be upset with you, whichever decision you make. In fact, he agonised about having told you of the option before they confirmed it was safe not wanting you to be disappointed if we couldn't replicate the results and he still worries that it won't work properly on someone who's had their magic bound since childhood," Clancy said gruffly.

-o0o-

"Hadrian, would you be terribly disappointed if I choose not to try to have my magic unbound?" Tim asked slightly anxiously.

"No not at all. I can understand you not wanting to change your life like that, especially if it meant giving up the work you do and using a computer," Hadrian replied smiling reassuringly. "I never wanted you to feel pressured to do this, or to feel like it matters to our relationship at all. The only thing that would upset me would be if you made the decision by choosing what you thought I wanted instead of in your own best interests, and then lost the ability to do things that were important to you because of me." Hadrian wondered if Tim had made the decision or was still thinking it over but didn't want to ask for fear that Tim would take it as Hadrian holding hope he would decide to go through the rituals after all.

"I'm not going to do it. I'm glad that the option will be there for kids finishing high school to have their magic unbound if they want and take a gap year to learn the basics before choosing whether to go on to college but it's too late for me. I like my life the way it is, and I don't want to risk not being able to do my job," Tim declared.

Hadrian smiled and hugged him. "Okay," he said.

"Are they going to start offering it to other people?" Tim asked.

"There is a bill up for discussion in their parliament to decide that. I don't know whether it will pass at the moment or not. There's some opposition, but I imagine it will be passed eventually, if only to protect those with their magic bound from unscrupulous groups who will make the offer in return for oaths of servitude or indenture," Hadrian replied.

"Is the resistance coming from purebloods who think muggleborns shouldn't have magic?" Tim asked, knowing that's the attitude Hadrian had been fighting against in Britain. He hoped it didn't occur here.

"Perhaps some of them might secretly have that agenda but they're not saying so publicly. The stated concern is that we could be tearing apart families to tell teenagers that they could have had these secret abilities and gone to a school of magic and their parents denied them the opportunity. The fear is that most of the kids who get their magic unbound under this act, if it passes, will spend the rest of their lives feeling like they can't catch up to all the knowledge and control of their magic that they would have learnt in a wizarding school. Some of them are going to resent their parents for doing this to them, particularly the ones who were bullied at their nonmagical high school. And then there's the argument about at what age should the child be told. They're far more likely to forgive their parents at twenty one or even twenty five than seventeen but unbound magic will probably be easier to adjust to and gain control of if it's unbound before their maturity at seventeen. But most kids aren't financially independent at that age. Not to mention that the unbinding requires several sex rituals and they aren't something they could do with their non-magical girlfriend or boyfriend, it has to be conducted by a witch or wizard experienced in the ritual. So we'd potentially be asking the ritual experts to have sex with barely of age teenagers, and not just once or twice either they think it will take between four and ten rituals to unbind someone's magic safely, and there are between three and six children who have their magic bound most years. And the age of consent in the nonmagical world is eighteen so they either need to wait until then or there will have to be an exception made in these cases so the ritual expert doesn't end up at risk of being arrested by an angry parent for statutory rape."

"On the other hand, there are a lot of people who've been campaigning a for abolishing the policy of allowing parents to have their children's magic bound that are arguing that we don't have the right to deny these young adults the chance to access their magic now we have a way to safely release it, and they are arguing for the bindings to be released as soon as possible. They are reminding the government that it's only in the past 60 years that the marriage age was raised from 14 for boys and six months after they start menstruating for girls so they want to use those ages which would then allow the students to attend magical school up to OWL level, reducing the amount of catching up they'd have to do on their own."

"Wow, it is far more complicated than I thought. But you also have to consider that those kids have grown up in the age of computers and gaming, they'd need to be told what they're giving up to have their magic unbound," Tim said, then groaned. "And social media, kids and teenagers these days are used to oversharing everything going on in their lives, asking them to keep a secret this big isn't going to sit well with them. That is if they're all even capable of keeping the secret. I don't know how you're going to manage to keep the wizarding world from becoming general knowledge."

"It's going to be impossible, not just most of them but every single one of them needs to keep this secret about magic and the rituals whether they choose to go through with the rituals or not, they'd have to be spelled to keep the secret and there's a lot of resistance to taking this risk and some to further interfering with these children, many who have already been obliviated about magic at least once," Harry said sighing. "But I would imagine there are already processes in place to watch social media posts for the mention of the magical world."

"But maybe this whole issue will make them think twice about casting the bindings on children in the first place," Tim said, knowing Hadrian had been campaigning hard for the practice to cease.

"I hope so," Hadrian agreed fervently. "It's a disgusting practice to take part of a person away from them." Hadrian equated the binding of a child's magic as similar to blinding or deafening a child. Not something any civilized person should ever consider deliberately doing.

-o0o-

"Are you sure you won't come to care that I'm not a wizard, sometime in the future?" Tim asked uncertainly as they lay in bed later that night. He wasn't worried that Hades would ever not love him for not using magic or want to leave him over the issue but he was afraid that Hadrian might resent that he hadn't had his magic unbound one day and those fears were preventing him from falling asleep.

"Tim, I fell in love with you when I thought you were completely nonmagical and the only mild regret I had back then is that we couldn't have children together. I hoped to talk to you about adopting at some stage in the future. When I found out that you were a wizard with their magic bound and could give us children of our own was a miracle I'd never dared hope for, though I admit the way we found out could have gone better at the time," Hadrian said earnestly. "Other than that, I don't care that you can't use magic. Is there anything around the house that you struggle with because it takes magic? I'm more than happy to alter it. Or is there anything I can do to make your life or this decision easier"

"Not here, the house has been entirely modernized for a non magic user. I sometimes kind of wish that I could operate the lights in Hawaii without having to call for one of the elves to turn it on for me but I'm so seldom up on my own at night there anyway, it isn't worth having the whole house wired just for that," Tim replied.

"But if we did have electricity, you could charge your devices," Hadrian said.

"I wouldn't get reception out there anyway, charge wouldn't make much difference," Tim said chuckling.

"We could get an internet connection if you wanted, I'm sure it would be available on the island," Hadrian offered.

"For what price? The magic of the wards would interfere with a satellite connection and they'd ruin the environment laying the cable and it would cost an arm and a leg. Don't fret about it Hades, part of the charm of going to Hawaii is being out of reach even if it in breach of Gibbs Rule 3. And the elves can always find us if it's an emergency," Tim replied hugging his husband. He chose not to mention the possibility of altering the wards to make satellite phone work in the house, unless he ever had reason to live there for more than a week or two or had to be there on his own, he didn't want one and the wards kept them all safe and protected the ancient house from the weather as well as potential intruders.

"Quincy is set to wire the house when he's finished his current project," Hadrian said. "I was serious about setting up a home theatre and introducing Neville and Hannah to movies."

Tim laughed and they settled in to sleep. He was almost drifting off when he heard Hadrian speak softly. "I think I'm glad you chose not to unbind your magic. I would hate to have put you through so much upheaval. Especially as I would never have really known if you were doing it for yourself or for me."

Tim wasn't sure he was meant to have heard that so he just feigned sleep and left things be. Inwardly he was incredibly relieved to have heard it though and not to have to worry that Hadrian was secretly disappointed.

-o0o-

Hadrian thrived through the second trimester and the start of the third but was beginning to tire towards the end. Healer Roberts was happy with his and the baby's health but Hadrian was relieved to give up work, his magic was becoming erratic as the baby siphoned so much of it and even the desk duties were exhausting him and sitting in a government chair all day was causing his back to ache no matter how many cushioning charms he cast on it. As his pregnancy progressed the assistance of Barbara and the elves with the children was becoming invaluable. Harry still spent as much time as he could with Teddy and Rosie, but he wasn't able to pick up either child now and getting up from the floor was becoming more and more difficult.

He was anxious for the birth of the baby, he was uncomfortable most of the time now and with his magic becoming erratic he couldn't rely on the glamour charms to hide his pregnancy so he was mostly housebound and cabin fever was beginning to set in.

Tim was happy to massage his back and feet each night if he got home early enough and knew Barbara would do it if he was working late and Hadrian asked. He was glad that the potion infused massage oil eased the aches so effectively. They were both eagerly awaiting the birth now but as Hadrian's due date came and went with no sign of labour he started to become impatient and short tempered. Tim was grateful that he could escape to work for the day though in the next moment he felt guilty for feeling that way, he was as eager for the baby to be safely born as Hadrian and he wasn't the one barely able to sleep with the discomfort.

Healer Roberts had penciled them into several vacancies he had for the delivery and as soon as Tim could get a couple of days off he would perform the caesarian whether Hadrian went into labour or not.

-o0o-

Tim could tell something was slightly off with his husband when he arrived home from work at 2300 one evening. He was hoping that Hadrian wasn't angry at him for working late but they'd picked up a multiple homicide and the only reason he'd been able to leave when he did was that they'd hit a dead end and were waiting on the computer searched Tim was running and the prints to finish running through AFIS to give them a new potential lead.

"I'm sorry I'm late," he said, breaching Gibbs Rule 6 with ease, he didn't think it should apply to family anyhow.

"Tough case?" Hadrian asked.

"Multiple homicide, 4 petty officers and 2 civilians, it looks like a drug deal gone wrong but we can't prove it yet," Tim said shrugging.

"So you haven't solved it. Gibbs is going to be pissed when you call in tomorrow," Hadrian said.

"Call in?" Tim asked confused before the only reason Hadrian would ask him to miss work in the middle of a case occurred to him. "You're in labour?" he began to worry.

"Yes but it's early yet and I'm ready to go. I've packed you a meal in case you haven't eaten," Hadrian said calmly, holding out the portkey.

"You should've called me when it started, there was no need for you to be home alone suffering like that," Tim scolded gently, placing his hand on it.

"It doesn't matter now," Hadrian said before saying the activation phrase.

Healer Roberts met them there and soon Hadrian was transported to the delivery suite where the caesarean was quickly completed while Tim paced up and down in the waiting room praying that everything went well, though he wasn't as terrified as he'd been last time. The neonate healer carefully checked over the baby and pronounced her healthy, then took her out and handed her to Tim while Healer Roberts performed the healing spells.

"You have a perfect baby girl," the healer told them smiling.

"Is Hadrian okay?" Tim asked frightened that she'd brought the baby out to him instead of taking him into see both of them.

"He's fine, Healer Roberts is nearly finished healing him, you'll be allowed in in a few minutes," the healer said smiling at the devoted husband. "In the meantime meet your daughter."

"Hello Daisy Maree! I'm your Daddy. You're Papa and I are very pleased to meet you! And your big brother and sister will be very excited too. They're going to love you so much, just like your Papa and I do," Tim said gazing adoringly at the baby before bringing her over to Hadrian as the healer finished healing the incision.

"Congratulations, she's a beautiful baby. I'll be back to check on you in the morning and hopefully release you the next day," Healer Roberts said smiling. "I want you to get a little more rest first seeing you have two children at home waiting for you and resting will be more difficult."

"Thank you," Hadrian said tiredly, though he was disappointed not to be allowed home sooner.

"Thank you," Tim echoed. He handed the baby to Hadrian helping him hold her for a moment then wrapping his arms around the two of them. "Thank you!" he whispered reverently.

Daisy began to fret and the nurse arrived with a bottle, "She's got a healthy set of lungs, she sounds hungry."

"Thanks" Hadrian said feeding and burping the baby. Tim took her and checked her diaper before swaddling her handing her back to Hadrian to cuddle to sleep.

"Get some sleep," Tim said kissed each of them on the forehead. "I'm going to call the house and let Barbara and Tollie know the news. I'll be back in a few minutes."

He got back to find them both sound asleep and carefully climbed back onto the bed pulling the cot side up behind him so he couldn't fall off to get a couple of hours sleep before Daisy woke up.

-o0o-

"Where's McTardy?" Tony said jovially as he arrived at work with only a minute or two before he would've been late and saw Tim's desk empty, his bag missing and his computer still turned off. He felt vaguely guilty getting the younger Agent into trouble for being late but rationalised that Gibbs would've noticed anyway.

"On leave," Gibbs said not sounding at all upset. "We will be getting a TAD this afternoon for the next two weeks."

"Again, how much more leave can McHoliday have left?" Tony said. "I didn't know he was planning a holiday, when did this come up?"

"Not on vacation DiNozzo, paternity leave," Gibbs replied. "Cold cases on your desk, get to work." Gibbs got up and walked out to get coffee.

"He can't just say that and leave!" Tony exclaimed. "Did he tell you anything about the baby, is it even born yet or are they still in the labour ward? Was it due already or was it a premie? Is it okay? There must be something wrong for Tim to take off in the middle of a homicide case. Did you know Tim was having another baby?"

"It was a baby girl. Tim said they're going to call her Daisy Maree," Ziva said. "It was due last week and she was born just after 0100. Everything is fine Tim sounded almost drunk with joy when he rang."

"Or actually drunk from wetting the baby's head," Tony said smirking. "Tim has balls if he wasn't drunk! I wouldn't like to have to call Gibbs in the middle of a case and tell him I was well enough to work but not coming in," Tony said admiringly.

"Wetting the baby? I do not understand how bathing a baby can cause drunkenness?"

"Not bathing the baby, it's an Irish tradition to buy a round of drinks to celebrate the birth of a child, it's called wetting the baby's head. But another girl, McDaddy must be disappointed," Tony said.

"Why would McGee be disappointed?" Ziva asked. "He certainly didn't sound disappointed."

"Not to have a son," Tony said as if it was obvious.

"That's stupid, why would he want a son instead of a daughter?" Ziva asked annoyed.

"Most men want a son, Ziva and he already has a daughter," Tony explained.

"Well he definitely didn't sound disappointed, he sounded like he had spooned the lottery," Ziva replied. "He already has a son and a daughter."

"Won the lottery," he said wondering how she'd come up with spooned. "But Teddy is not his son, he's his stepson. There is a difference, Ziva!" Tony stated.

"I wouldn't let Tim hear you say that. I'm sure he doesn't see it that way," Ziva replied. "And we do not know whether Tim or Hadrian actually fathered the new baby."

"It would have to be Tim, he's so excited about it," Tony dismissed.

"No it doesn't DiNozzo! All children are precious and his husband's child will mean as much to Tim as his own. Look how he is with Teddy! Now get to work!" Gibbs said, head slapping the younger man.

A/N: Thank you to Kourtney Uzu Yato, luramos, sandipi, Gime'SS, lia (Guest), Guest, Fallow54 (Guest), Vladimir Mithrander, Rori Potter, delia cerrano, awkwardtaxi, serenityselena, Guest, kirsty21, DarkRavie, aisa.32, StephJ, Merlenyn, AerynS, Serpent91, Village-Mystic, Erielaw, daithi4377, Silvermane1, Sakihinata, madnessdownunder2, kimbarn30, Flying Chrissy, EnigmaEric, Harriverse, mayawene, Love life and Have fun, Beth9891, farawisa, Criminal Minds Queen, Guest, Rebecca (Guest), Neale, ShadowLady89 and all those who followed and favourited for your support.


	77. Chapter 77

**Chapter 77**

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or NCIS or any of their characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do **NOT** give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

Of course, the case Gibbs and the team were working wasn't a simple drug deal gone wrong but ended up having some technological implications and they confiscated several encrypted laptops as evidence. Abby was swamped with evidence from other teams as well as theirs and Gibbs had to ask for assistance from the cyber division in the basement.

"Where's agent McGee, he's better at this than any of us?" the nervous technician asked. He'd never worked with Abby but he'd heard stories of her excruciatingly loud metal music and her impatience with having an outsider in her lab and her cruelty to Agent's that annoyed her.

"Paternity leave, we'll possibly able to call him for some phone assistance later today if you need him to fill you in on the case so far," Ziva replied.

"What?" Abby asked.

"Tim's and Hadrian's surrogate had a baby girl this morning," Ziva replied. "He assured me that all is well and they will be able to bring her home tomorrow."

"Then why isn't he here today?" Abby asked.

"The delivery took most of the night, Tim is exhausted and catching up on his sleep before the baby comes home," Gibbs said. "He's going to need it with a new baby, a toddler and an elementary school child in the house."

"He didn't tell me they were expecting a new baby!" Abby said pouting.

"Can you be surprised considering how unsupportive you were about the last one," Tony said.

"Gibbs!" Abby whined when Gibbs didn't head-slap Tony for the comment.

"He's right Abby, you've made it very clear that you don't accept Tim's family, why would he share his news with you," Gibbs replied.

"What hospital?" Abby asked preparing to hack the security feeds to see if she could get a look at the baby.

"Don't know, what's it to ya?" Gibbs said. "Get back to work and leave Tim alone! That's an order, Abby."

-o0o-

Once Tim and Hadrian had woken up, and Tim had managed to help Hadrian shower, not that he really needed the help but Tim was still anxious about him being in there on his own and were dressed Hadrian in his favourite pyjamas and Tim in fresh jeans and a T-shirt, Tim called for Tollie to bring one of the children to see the baby.

Tollie popped in on her own and cooed over the new addition for a moment before popping away and arriving back with Rosie. "Teddy beings at schools," she explained. "I brings when he gets home?"

"Yes that would be best Tollie, I'd forgotten he had school today," Hadrian said smiling gratefully at the elf as Tim lifted Rosie up onto the bed so she could see her baby sister who Hadrian was holding.

"Baby," Rosie said reaching for her.

"This is your sister Daisy," Hadrian said holding the baby out while Tim helped the toddler put her arms around the newborn gently. He called for a nurse and asked her to take some photos of the four of them.

"We must all be very gentle with Daisy because she's so little. She is too little to play with at the moment but she will soon grow big enough to play baby games," Tim said.

"Too little, baby," Rosie said nodding but poking at the baby. Hadrian caught her hand and helped her touch Daisy's cheek gently.

"Yes. You used to be this little too, you need to touch gently, don't poke," Hadrian said smiling. "And Teddy had to wait for you to grow big enough to play. Daisy will do a lot of eating and sleeping for a while but she loves gentle cuddles."

Rosie quickly lost interest in holding the baby and began to squirm, so Hadrian took Daisy back while Tim scooped up the toddler and started to feed her the snacks he'd packed in her bag in anticipation. She finished her snack and Tim took the baby so Hadrian could give Rosie some attention and cuddles before Tollie took her back home and Tim settled Hadrian in to nap a little before Daisy's next feed.

-o0o-

Teddy came several hours later, arriving while Hadrian was bathing Daisy. After cuddling with Tim for a minute or two he eagerly climbed up on the stool Tim moved over for him to see into the baby bath.

"This is your little sister Daisy," Tim said.

"Not a brother?" Teddy said disapointed.

"Sorry Teddy but no she's a baby girl, so she'll be your sister," Hadrian said laughing. "But Rosie is your sister and she's a lot of fun to play with isn't she."

"Yes Rosie is fun sometimes," Teddy agreed.

"Daisy will be fun to play with when she gets a bit bigger too. She is too little to play with much for a while. Do you remember when Rosie was this little?" Hadrian asked. He knew it was a stretch; Teddy wasn't quite four when Rosie was born so he wasn't sure whether the little boy had started making permanent memories by then. Still he'd seen plenty of photos of Rosie as a baby with him holding her gently so that might have helped him to remember.

Teddy nodded, "It took a long time for her to be big enough to play baby games."

"It seemed a long time to you, but really it wasn't," Hadrian said smiling.

Hadrian finished bathing Daisy and lifted onto the change table where Tim quickly wrapped her in the towel and started drying her off.

"Do you think that Daisy will want to wear her pink sleeper or the yellow?" Tim asked Teddy.

"Yellow," Teddy decided. "Daisy likes yellow." Tim and Hadrian exchanged a grin at Teddy declaring that Daisy shared his favourite colour.

"Daisy isn't old enough yet to know her colours but she will certainly look very pretty in the yellow," Tim said putting the yellow growsuit onto the baby and wrapping her in the yellow swaddling cloth. "Do you want to sit up on the bed and have a hold and a cuddle?"

Hadrian climbed onto the bed and Tim handed Daisy to her, he lifted Teddy onto the bed and sat on his other side as Hadrian carefully handed the baby to the little boy. Once he was settled safely Tim slipped off the bed and started taking photographs of the two of them.

Teddy and Rosie were in bed asleep by the time Hadrian was released that night. The healers wanted to keep him until morning but they admitted that it was mostly because they didn't want Hadrian or the baby to be outside in the cold night air and they wanted him to get one night's uninterrupted sleep before being at home with three children.

"Tim and I will both sleep better knowing that Tollie is looking after Daisy than some strange elf no matter how well they are trained in the care of neonates. If Daisy is healthy enough to leave the hospital then we want to go home," Hadrian said firmly. "And it isn't like I don't have a whole team of help at home between Tim, Tollie, Barbara and the other elves I won't be allowed to do anything much for the next two weeks."

Healer Roberts laughed. "Not everyone has your resources, I forgot how well off you are," he admitted. "Portkey while her stomach is empty and don't feed her for at least fifteen minutes after returning home. I want to see you in my rooms in a week, earlier if you have any concerns at all."

"Thank you," Hadrian said smiling. Tim shook his hand but Hadrian's arms were full of newborn.

They arrived home and Tim insisted on Hadrian getting straight into bed while he changed Daisy's diaper and settled her from the portkey before Hadrian could feed her. Swaddling her he laid her in her bassinet. Unlike her older sister, Daisy had taken well to settling herself to sleep once her stomach was full. Hadrian sat watching her sleep for a while before Tim could persuade him to try to sleep himself.

-o0o-

Tony and Ziva were curious who would be conscripted to TAD for the team. They hoped it was someone who had at least worked in the bullpen before and was familiar with Gibbs idiosyncrasies and had the inner strength not to take his criticism too personally, or at least someone who knew enough not to piss Gibbs off.

They were both relieved when Ned Dorneget turned up late morning.

"Hey guys," he said enthusiastically.

"Hey Ned, you with us for the next two weeks?" Tony replied, fairly pleased with the arrangement. Ned was still very green but he'd worked with them before when Tim was away and had a lot of the more basic computer skills they relied on Tim for, and he was getting better at knowing when to shut up before Gibbs head-slapped him.

Ned looked at Tony and Ziva, "I'm replacing Tim again? Don't the two of you get any leave?" he asked surprised and a little disappointed not to be working with Tim.

"McDaddy is on paternity leave, not a type of leave that I'd want. Ziva and I took leave at the same time as Gibbs this year, so they stood the whole team down rather than deal with months of cold cases and a never-ending stream of TADs," Tony replied.

"Another baby, his daughter's only just turned one hasn't she?" Ned asked.

"Rosie will be two next month," Ziva replied.

"How did you know Tim's kids?" Tony asked curiously.

"I saw the pictures last time I TAD'd for the team. Tim likes to catch up with me before hand and give me a run down on what you guys are working on. I guess he couldn't this time if this leave was confirmed at the last minute," Ned replied.

"But he must have known the due date for months," Tony objected.

"Yes but he couldn't have handed over the cases you'd be working on at the time. I spoke with him the day before yesterday and he made no mention of leave this week," Ned replied.

"He did not mention the baby being on the way when he left last night," Ziva said. "He must have been informed that toil had started after he left."

"You mean labour, Ziva," Tony said amused.

"Labour, toil it means the same thing," Ziva replied.

"Not in this instance labour and toil both mean hard work but the contractions to deliver a baby are labour," Ned explained.

"Thank you Dorney," Ziva said smiling at the younger agent. She and Tony quickly brought Dorney up to date with the investigation so far and the computer forensics that Abby and the agent from cyber crimes were running, and he settled in to check some of the minor suspects backgrounds to eliminate them from the investigation and hopefully get some more insight into some of the more major players. He was hard at work by the time Gibbs returned to the bullpen and the lead agent merely grunted acceptingly at his presence.

The case broke three days later and after completing the reports the team gratefully staggered out of the bullpen at 16:30 taking advantage of Gibbs' rare offer to let them leave early. Once the bullpen was empty, Gibbs called Tim to see how he was and whether they were up for visitors to deliver the baby's gift he'd made.

"Sure Gibbs, we're starting to settle in, that or last night was a bit of a fluke," Tim said jokingly. "The kids would love to see you."

"How are they reacting to the new addition?" Gibbs asked.

"Rosie isn't too interested most of the time, she's happy so long as one of us is available when she wants us. She hasn't shown any real jealousy yet though. Teddy is quieter, but he's already quite protective of his baby sister," Tim replied cheerfully.

"I have gifts for them too," Gibbs said, not so much asking for permission as warning the parents not to object in front of the children.

"I'm sure they'll appreciate that, but please don't spoil them too much," Tim replied ruefully.

"I won't but it isn't fair that the baby gets all the presents," Gibbs said grinning.

"And I'm sure it has nothing at all to do with the fact that the other two are more fun to give presents to?" Tim groaned.

-o0o-

Tim hacked the phone records to check on the Admiral's whereabouts before he rang his mother with the news of Daisy's safe arrival. Heather was thrilled and enraptured by the photographs Tim sent her.

"She looks so much like her big sister, a perfect blend of the two of you. What does the surrogate look like?" she asked.

"The surrogate isn't the egg donor, Mom," Tim replied. Rosie and Daisy don't look anything like her.

"Are Rosie and Daisy full sisters?" Heather pressed.

"Mom we are not going to tell you who the biological father is even if we find out which we don't plan on doing," Tim said.

"But if you used an egg donor you must know," Heather said.

"We don't know and we don't care Mom, Rosie and Daisy are our daughters," Tim said firmly. "Please stop pushing."

Heather took note of the warning in her son's voice, she wasn't going to get an answer and continuing to ask for one was going to make him angry. Tim's temper was nowhere near as bad as his father's but once roused he would eventually explode. "Is she a good baby?" she asked.

"She's a good eater and she's self settling better than Rosie though she doesn't sleep for as long between feeds," Tim replied. "She hasn't got day and night worked out yet so she's mostly awake one hour in every three around the clock."

"You sound tired," Heather said sympathetically.

"We both are, but we have plenty of help available if it gets too much," Tim said yawning.

"I'll let you go and try to get some sleep," Heather offered.

"Thanks Mom, but chance would be a fine thing I promised Teddy some quality time if we got both girls to sleep at the same time, " Tim replied "Love you."

"I love you too," Heather said smiling. "Thanks for calling, and for the photos."

-o0o-

Gibbs and Ducky arrived that afternoon eager to greet the new arrival and spend some time with their other honourary grandchildren. Tim and Hadrian were both feeling a little sleep deprived but since they weren't the ones in charge of cleaning or cooking at the moment the house still made it seem that they were both coping quite well. Daisy was a fairly placid baby and slept reasonably well, except for waking to be fed every three hours. She seemed to have Tim's fair hair and pouty lip, though her eyes were still newborn blue. Hadrian loved having a new baby in the house again and Tim also loved spending the extra time with their expanding family.

"She's a fine wee lass," Ducky said examining the baby. "With a very healthy set of lungs on her," he added as she protested the examination. Tim quickly redressed her and handed her to Gibbs while he went to fetch her bottle. Gibbs held her up where she could see his face and started talking like they used to do to settle Rosie. It was only partially successful.

"She likes being rocked to settle more than being talked to," Tim returned. He offered to take the baby but Gibbs refused, moving her to the crook of his arm and holding his hand out for the bottle.

Tim surrendered it with a grin and watched his boss expertly feed and burp the newborn, not even seeming to care about the spot of baby vomit on the shoulder of his shirt. He continued to rub the baby's back, "Is she due to sleep?" he asked.

"No she's just woken up, she's due some time on her tummy, she hasn't done that today but she's a little small for it to really matter and we can do it next time she wakes up," Hadrian said.

"She keeping you on your toes?" Gibbs asked smirking.

"I'll admit three is a lot more work than two, even with all the help we have," Hadrian said chuckling ruefully. "I wouldn't change it for the world though. She and Rosie are so close in age, I hope they get along."

"They'll fight and make up and get along and not sometimes all in the same half hour, and be prepared for them to deliberately make opposing choices to establish their own identities being so close in age," Ducky replied. "But when all's said and done there's nothing quite like the bond one has with a sibling."

"I'm an only child and while I was brought up with a cousin my age we were never encouraged to think of each other as family," Hadrian said pensively.

"And yet now you have a wonderful family of your own and you'll never be truly alone again," Ducky said supportively.

Hadrian smiled.

-o0o-

Sarah came to visit and even held the baby for a few minutes, though she had more fun playing with Teddy and happily helped Rosie try to do the things her big brother was doing.

"Oh dear sweetie, you'll need to grow a bit more before you can do that," she said at one stage scooping the little girl up before she fell.

"She's a lot like you were as a little girl, always determined to do what the older kids were doing," Tim said reminiscing.

Sarah laughed ruefully, "It's only watching it now that I realize how annoying I must have been. I feel I should thank you for being as patient as you were," she said.

Tim laughed. "You were even worse than Rosie, you had absolutely no fear and every day it seemed you were about to injure yourself somehow, I was terrified that you would be seriously hurt sometime and it would be my fault for not watching out for you better," he admitted.

"It wouldn't have been your fault, I used to try and hide from you and follow so you wouldn't catch me and take me home. I interrupted a lot of times you were with friends and I didn't realise it at the time but it must have made moving much harder for you, trying to make new friends with a little tag-a-long following you everywhere," Sarah said apologetically.

"Hopefully with Daisy so much closer to her in age she'll stop trying to follow Teddy and start playing with her sister once she's big enough to play," Hadrian said. "They've already got different personalities though."

"How so, I thought Daisy would be too small to even have a personality yet?" Sarah asked.

"Rosie used to love to be talked to or read to, it didn't matter if we were holding her or she was on the ground as long as she had our whole attention and she could hear our voice. Daisy likes to be cuddled especially if you're rocking or moving but seems quite happy to be in your arms even when you're not paying her any attention. I was holding her and writing reports the other day, there's no way I could do that with Rosie unless I was reading what I wrote aloud and discussing it with her," Tim said.

"She's very structured already too. She wants her nappy then her bottle then playtime before being tucked back in bed to go to sleep," Hadrian said. "She objects to being put to bed before she decides she tired but sleeps much better when she's self settled, and she wouldn't take her bottle until after I'd changed her this morning."

"Mom wants to come and visit," Sarah said.

"Mom knows she is welcome to come visit, all she has to do is call and let us know when, we've plenty of room for her and I have made the offer," Tim replied mildly.

"She can't just up and leave Dad, he's not coping well with being denied that promotion and he's been told he will be posted to a permanent shore position after his next deployment. He feels he's been sidelined," Sarah said.

"I hope he isn't taking it out on her," Tim said.

"He wouldn't!" Sarah declared adamantly.

"Not physically," Tim agreed, "But you know how hard he can be to live with when everything isn't perfectly up to his standards."

"Have you heard from Penny?" Sarah asked, changing the subject since she and Tim were never going to agree about their father.

"Not since Daisy was born she sent us a string of Nepalese elephants to hang in the nursery for good luck a couple of months ago. I'm not even sure where exactly she is at the moment. She promised to break her trip in DC and visit next time she flew through the United States," Tim said.

"Did you put up the elephants?" Sarah asked.

"We did, but not over the cot we put them near the window up well out of reach, they're pretty but cheaply made and not at all child safe," Hadrian replied, not mentioning that he'd also cast several charms to prevent them from falling apart or sequins falling off and to prevent the children touching them as they weren't sure how child safe or germ free the materials were.

Sarah laughed. "She sends the strangest gifts, that backpack she sent me is great, just the right size for my laptop and purse and favourite book without looking to big and bulky, though it did have a funny smell, until I spilt coffee all over it and had to wash it."

Tim laughed too. "I don't even want to try to think what it may have been."

"Probably something illegal," Sarah teased her brother.

Tim groaned. "I said I don't want to know."

"Sibling squabbling, that's what we have to look forward to," Hadrian laughingly interrupted them.

He and Sarah laughed when Tim groaned again.

"Did Mom and Dad send you a gift?" Sarah asked

"Mom sent gifts, but she didn't even try to put the Admiral's name on the card," Tim replied.

"I hate to tell you this Sarah, I think your Mom has spent at least this quarter's shopping budget on Daisy and the kids," Hadrian said gesturing to several parcels that had just been delivered.

"Hope you didn't need anything urgent," Tim teased though he knew in a real emergency he or Hadrian wouldn't hesitate to help her out.

Sarah flipped him off over her shoulder, careful that her nieces and nephew didn't see the gesture so Tim didn't kill her for corrupting the kids.

-o0o-

Harry sent birth notifications with a photograph to Neville and Hannah, Kingsley, Robbards, Sir Geoffrey and to Ron and Hermione. And within a couple of days received gifts from most of them of magical toys, books or baby care equipment. He and Tim particularly liked the nappy bucket with the inbuilt vanishing charms that Hermione sent. Sir Geoffrey also sent over a couple of vaccinations for magical diseases that were mostly only prevalent in Britain and Europe and therefore not routinely vaccinated against in America. Hermione had also sent some Union Jack gro-suits, as well as a frilly pink baby dress robes. Ron sent a baby broom.

"She's a bit young for that," Tim exclaimed.

"She is, but I got one for my first birthday and Sirius said I loved it," Hadrian said. "I'll put it away until she's old enough to use it in Hawaii. Rosie is old enough to use it."

"You're going to give Daisy's present to Rosie?" Tim asked.

"I could always buy her her own but it would be better to use this one and buy a new one in a year or two, I don't know how long the charms will last if it isn't used," Hadrian said.

"Wouldn't it last longer if it isn't used?" Tim asked, surprised.

"No, brooms use the magic from the rider to power them, that's why a muggle or squib cant ride one on their own, the magic in the broom guides how the rider's magic interacts which refreshes the charms," Hadrian explained.

"Then this is a stupid present to buy for a newborn," Tim said.

"Yes it is rather, but Ron had their Rose riding her own broom as soon as she could crawl, he probably took her up with him the first time the two of them were left alone together," Hadrian said.

"You are not…" Tim ordered forcefully, he never spoke to his husband like that. Hadrian didn't take offence he knew Tim was just reacting to the danger and his old mate's stupidity.

"No, I wouldn't, not till she's walking and even then, the broom is designed for toddlers, it's the tricycle, or better yet toddler ride on toy, of the broom world, it hovers about a foot or two from the ground and moves at walking pace and has some truly impressive stabilization charms, it is almost impossible to fall off it," Hadrian said.

"I don't care Hades, I don't want our daughter riding it until she can walk," Tim said firmly.

"Okay, it's better if they never ride brooms here at home anyway, the toddler broom works well enough inside but we don't have the privacy here for a proper broom and it isn't fair to let Rosie and Daisy ride their brooms when Teddy can't ride his," Hadrian said without fuss. "I'll have one of the elves pop it to the house in Hawaii."

Tim trusted Hadrian not to break his word but he still felt better once the broom was out of the house. He didn't want Teddy finding it and trying to teach either of his sisters to ride.

A/N: Thank you to icyquest4, musme, ShadowLady89, Firehedgehog, lilly-flower15, knuckles 8, Kourtney Uzu Yato, KEZZ 1, daithi4377, Rebecca (Guest), Locket (Guest), sandipi, starie78, xDarklightx, mother oracle, kimbarn30, TruGemini, Serpent91, rmiser1994, DS2010, DarkRavie, mithrilandtj, aisa.32, IshipToomanyThings, charm13insomnia, Rori Potter, buterflypuss, luramos, colubrum, Merlenyn, Fallow54 (Guest), delia cerrano, midnight-flurry, Silvermane1, AlixMM, ayanami168, kirsty21, lia (Guest), madnessdownunder2, Melikalilly, acherongoddess, Vladimir Mithrander, Guest, Harriverse, Linda (Guest), serenityselena, tashriia, hellkiss, Criminal Minds Queen, CandiceHall5, Erimenthe, -Line and all those who followed and favourited for your support.


	78. Chapter 78

**Chapter 78**

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or NCIS or any of their characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do **NOT** give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

Tim returned to work reluctantly, a little concerned about how Hadrian would cope without him. Even though he knew Tollie and the other elves would step in if necessary, Hadrian was running himself ragged trying to look after Daisy himself and spend as much time as he could with Rosie and Teddy as well. He was going to miss being home with them though he also knew he would soon be missing the challenge of work if he stayed home much longer. Daisy was doing well, sleeping slightly more at night than during the day though she was still wanting to be fed every three and a half hours, and her brother and sister were getting used to having a new baby in the house. Tim, Hadrian and Barbara were careful that it didn't affect them too much and the children accepted the changes without complaining or feeling insecure.

He found it difficult to concentrate at work while he still wasn't sleeping through the night, Hadrian tried to insist on doing all the night feedings and nappy changes himself but Tim still woke up every time he heard Daisy cry. Rosie had had a nightmare the night before as well, which didn't help. Hadrian had offered to cast a silencing charm around him so he wasn't disturbed but he wanted the opportunity to be part of his daughter's care. She was often asleep from the time he got home til the time he went to bed, and in the morning even if she was awake during the time he woke until rushing out the door, he didn't have time to stop and spend time looking after a baby if he wanted to get to work on time. The middle of the night feedings were the only times he was able to interact with her and he didn't want her to not know who he was or think that he wasn't around for her. He became more and more tired until the day Hadrian wrapped the time turner around them despite his protests, turned back twenty-four hours and pulled him into the guest room and poured dreamless sleep down his throat.

Tim woke fifteen hours later to find Hadrian sitting reading in bed beside him. "Hi, do you feel better?" he asked.

"Yeah I do but that tasted disgusting," Tim replied.

Hadrian handed him a glass of water. "It does, and it can be addictive if used too often but you needed it. The lack of sleep was starting to impair your reflexes," he said.

Tim scowled.

"Need I remind you that you just slept fifteen hours in spite of the fact you'd only been out of bed for an hour after what you call a full night's sleep. The potion would only have made you sleep six hours if you hadn't desperately needed the other nine hours sleep," Hadrian said.

Tim sighed. "You're right I do feel better, I really needed this. I'd almost forgotten what it feels like not to feel exhausted." He went to get up.

"You don't have anywhere you need to be, the past versions of us are already in our room with Daisy and you know they will look after her tonight because we already did it," Hadrian said softly. "I've called for some dinner, they'll pop it to the table here in a minute. You don't need to get dressed to eat with me."

"So what's the plan for the next eight hours?" Tim asked.

"Dinner, possibly a spa or shower a massage if you want one and more sleep," Hadrian replied. "You feel rested now because you just woke up but you need to sleep again tonight to make it through the work day tomorrow."

Tim smiled and nodded. An elf popped in with their dressing gowns and a minute later their food arrived on the table.

"I'm not feeling tired again yet, in fact I'm feeling kind of wired, I don't think I'll be able to sleep any more tonight" Tim said as they finished a quiet child-free meal.

"The healer cleared me to resume normal marital activity, so I'm sure I can find a way to tire you out," Hadrian said suggestively.

Tim laughed. "Did he really refer to sex as 'normal marital activity'?" He asked amused.

"He barely managed to refrain from calling it a marital duty," Hadrian said laughing.

"You've been cleared but do you really feel well enough? I don't want to hurt you," Tim said.

"I'm perfectly healed, have been for weeks. I've started on the birth control potion again a couple of days ago and I've had plenty of sleep today too so I'm not too tired," Hadrian said trying to address all of Tim's worries and concerns. He tried not to take it personally that Tim didn't seem as eager to resume their sex life as he was.

Tim grinned, stood and offered his hand to Hadrian as had become habit over the last month of pregnancy when Hadrian had started to struggle to stand up from low chairs.

Hadrian looked at the hand suspiciously for a moment before taking it. He didn't want Tim treating him as if he were fragile.

Tim pulled him up into a tight hug before scooping him up and carrying him to the still turned down bed. Laying him down he pulled at the tie of his dressing gown opening it, before standing up to remove his own, he stood there for a moment admiring his husband's body laid bare in front of him. Hadrian still had a little of the baby weight to lose but the afterbirth potions had tightened and firmed the skin on his belly and healed any stretch marks he would have had. Tim was aware that Hadrian didn't like how heavy he felt and was a little self-conscious but all he saw when he looked at him was a healthier version of the sexy man he'd first fallen in love with. Crawling over him he leaned down to kiss him passionately. Hadrian pulled him down on top of him, thrusting up his hips to rub his erection against Tim's.

Tim groaned and reached between them to wrap his hands around both shafts. Hadrian reached down too and whispered a spell coating Tim's palm in lubricant before he made contact. He enjoyed the thrusting against each other inside Tim's fist for a moment then stilled.

"I want you inside me when I come," he said earnestly.

Tim groaned in delight. It had been a while since he'd topped and while all sex with Hadrian was beyond amazing he had missed it but what he had missed the most was being able to face each other and look into Hadrian's eyes as they made love. "Flat on your back, legs in the air," he said moving to kneel between Hadrian's thighs.

Hadrian smirked sexily and grabbed behind his knees holding them to his chest and opening himself up to his husbands view.

Tim held his hand out and Hadrian used another wandless spell to fill it with lube. He took his time fingering Hadrian open wanting to be sure he didn't hurt his lover.

"I need you now," Hadrian almost begged as Tim thrust three fingers inside brushing his prostate with every movement.

He removed his fingers and pressed himself against Hadrian's entrance moving excruciatingly slowly enjoying the look in Hadrian's eyes as he bottomed out and gave the younger man time to accommodate his girth. "I love you," he whispered reverently.

"I love you," Hadrian replied moving his hips restlessly. "Make love to me."

Tim began to move rocking gently at first then moving more vigorously in response to Hadrian's pleas for harder and faster finally slamming their hips together with abandon as Hadrian broke beneath him coming with a loud cry as Tim bit down on where his shoulder meets his neck. In spite of the energetic movements it still was more lovemaking than fucking, the two of them keeping loving eye contact as much as they could for as long as they could keep their eyes open.

Tim flopped to the side as he collapsed breathing heavily, Hadrian also panting beside him.

Once he caught his breath Hadrian summoned a cloth from the bathroom to clean them both up a bit, knowing Tim preferred that to a cleaning charm, then levitated the quilt over the top of them both as they fell asleep.

Tim was woken in the morning by the sounds of the family's regular work day routine, it was odd lying there listening to the noise of himself and Hadrian getting the children down to breakfast and Tim getting ready for work. He now understood why Hades had been worried enough about him to force the time-turner and potion on him. He even sounded tired through the heavy closed door. Now though he felt invigorated and the only regret he had in getting up was that he didn't have time to make love again before work. He hurriedly showered and dressed in the clean suit the elves had brought him before kissing Hadrian awake, a little concerned that his husband hadn't woken to join him in the shower.

"Hey there sleepyhead, are you okay?" Tim asked.

"Hmm." Hadrian responds trying to deepen the kiss.

"Why are you so tired, are you all right?" Tim said concerned. "Are you sure I didn't hurt you?"

"I'm sure you didn't, I feel great. I didn't sleep all day yesterday like you did," Hadrian admitted.

"We repeated the day, what could be so urgent that it couldn't wait for today and yet not important enough to have done it yesterday the first time around?" Tim asked.

"We'll for one thing I went to see Healer Roberts to get the all clear for last night. Then it was just so nice out yesterday and being out on my own without the children. I did some shopping bought some clothes that fit me a bit better without making me feel like I was slobbing around the house in oversized trackies. I also got my haircut which was a bit of a waste of time since you didn't even notice. I needed to feel good about myself again, to know I could look attractive instead of the overweight fat frowsy housewife I've felt like over the last few weeks. I did a lot of things I needed to do for me but that I've been putting off because I didn't want to leave Daisy," Hadrian said. "I knew you'd sleep at least long enough for me to get back before you started to wake up."

"I'm sorry I didn't notice your haircut. It looks good," Tim said contritely.

Harry smiled. "It's okay, I was just sick of it being so long and in my eyes all the time. I couldn't get it cut for the last few months, the glamour hid the baby bump but it didn't do anything to hide the fact I couldn't walk without waddling."

Tim laughed. "That would have looked a bit odd," he agreed. "Are you okay to get up or should I ask Tollie to look after the kids this morning?"

"I'll get up," Hadrian said slowly getting up.

"Are you sore, was I too rough?" Tim asked concerned.

"No, you were perfect. It's just been a while. I'll be fine," Hadrian replied.

"Do you want me to run you a bath?" Tim asked.

"Only if you want to join me," Hadrian said smiling at his husband. You could play hookey today and then turn back again tomorrow."

Tim laughed. "If we start that we won't stop and I don't want to arouse suspicion by ageing too quickly."

"Yeah! Let's eat and I'll shower later," Hadrian agreed. He called an elf and asked for breakfast to be sent up and went to the bathroom where after taking care of his business he surreptitiously cast a healing charm so he could sit comfortably.

They moved across to another room and had a nice quiet breakfast together keeping an eye on the time so Tim could leave as soon as they were sure they wouldn't run into their 24 hour younger selves.

-o0o-

Tim walked into the bullpen with a spring in his step.

"Someone got some last night," Tony said winking exaggeratedly.

"If you're referring to an unbroken night's sleep, and the opportunity to hug all three of my children this morning, yes I did and it's a wonderful day, I feel fantastic," Tim replied making Ziva laugh at the two of them. Even Gibbs had a sneaky smirk.

"Get to work!" He barked to hide a grin.

Tim settled in and soon found them a lead and they were off and running. It was late before they solved the case and Gibbs let them go. Teddy and Rosie were already in bed asleep but Daisy was starting to stir as he finished the meal Hadrian made him.

"I'll get her," Tim said eagerly.

"I'll bring you up her bottle, she was bathed this afternoon already so she should just need a change," Hadrian replied.

-o0o-

Hadrian leaned on the nursery door smiling as he watched Tim interact with Daisy, he finished dressing her and held her up to his shoulder as he danced her around the room. It was good to see his husband with enough energy to enjoy time with their daughter even after working late and it was obvious that Daisy was reveling in the attention.

Tim noticed Hadrian standing there grinning and came over and pulled him into a hug with his free had forcing him to join their dance. Hadrian laughed and wrapped both arms around Tim kissing him lightly before kissing Daisy's forehead.

"I hadn't realized how run down I was," Tim admitted. "I feel so much better. Thank you." He kissed his husband again, deepening the kiss which continued on and on until Daisy started to complain about the delay in receiving the bottle she expected after a nappy change.

They broke apart laughing and Hadrian accio'd a bottle for her casting a mild heating charm on it before handing it to his husband. Squeezing into the rocker with him they fed their little darling and gave her the attention she wanted until she started to drift back to sleep. Quickly swaddling her they returned her to her cot and moved out of the room.

"Are you ready for bed?" Hadrian asked.

"If you're joining me, certainly," Tim replied flirtatiously.

"I'll be joining you to sleep, you might feel better but another solid eight hours sleep is needed to

keep you feeling that way," Hadrian said sternly, though the fond expression on his face took the sting out of any rejection in his words.

Tim chuckled and wrapped his arm around the shorter man, leading them into the bedroom. Tim did his best but Hadrian was insistent and after some passionate kisses they snuggled down to sleep spooned together comfortably.

-o0o-

Work and life went on, the team worked several back to back cases wearing everybody out, but Hadrian was diligent in keeping a closer eye on Tim to ensure he didn't become too exhausted again. He'd had to step in with the time turner a couple more times as Tim's work became too demanding for him to get adequate rest and spend time with the children but hadn't resorted to drugging him with dreamless sleep again, instead ensuring Tim spent a quiet day at home, playing with the children, eating healthily and napping when Rosie and Daisy did and had an early night, being tucked up with him in the guest room sound asleep before the original version even left the Naval Yard.

At first Tim was worried that taking a day off in the middle of a case would cause him to lose momentum and forget something important but instead he found that these breaks helped him see things more clearly when he came back to the case with fresh eyes after his secret day off and was able to make connections that they all had missed the night before in their fatigue.

-o0o-

Hadrian began to settle down and let the elves take care of Daisy sometimes to give him a break or to take the opportunity to spend some quality one on one time with Teddy and Rosie. He began to help out in Teddy's classroom for a couple of hours each week and went on a school excursion out to a nearby petting farm where the children got to play with the lambs and see the cows milked and spend some time looking after the chickens and turkeys.

He and Rosie joined a toddler gym and though he was the only dad among a group of moms he made some friends. Unlike the mothers at school most of these moms were either still involved with their children's fathers or too busy chasing their own little one to flirt and he was able to relax and be himself. It helped that even when they met for coffee it was at a local café or park, because none of them felt like dealing with half a dozen toddlers in their homes so none of them realized how wealthy Hadrian was.

They cooed over Daisy when he brought her along to their coffee morning one day when Teddy was feeling a little unwell and commandeering as much of Barbara's and Tollie's attention as he could.

"I can't believe that you're a stay at home Dad with two such young children," one mother commented. "I couldn't even ask my husband to look after Angus for more than an hour without having an anxiety attack when he was that small."

Hadrian smiled. "Tim works in DC most of the time, and is home at night far more than I would be if I was the working parent, and besides I love being home with them," he said. "He's quite good with them if I need some time off though."

"Oh I shouldn't have assumed, I'm sorry," the mother said blushing.

"It's okay, it's normal with a baby so young to assume they have a mother in their lives," Hadrian said smiling. "Surrogacy is still so uncertain and it's so difficult for homosexual couples to adopt in Virginia and Maryland. We had no end of difficulty getting the adoption paperwork for our son accepted."

"So you have a son as well as two daughters, no wonder you're a full time parent. How old is he?"

"He just started first grade. We did have a nanny while we were both working but because I'm actually a British citizen seconded to work over here I'm under their paternity leave entitlements which forces them to hold my job for me for up to twelve months," Hadrian explained. "I didn't take it all with Rosie but I think I would like to this time, my job involves quite a lot of international travel and I feel like I missed so much last time."

"Oh I know, I hate leaving Melanie, it seems all her firsts have occurred while she was with my Mom," the mother complained. "Still I'm lucky to have Mom, and she videotapes Melanie for me everyday. I couldn't afford a nanny."

"Me either," several of the others agreed.

"We didn't really have a choice, I don't have any family and Tim's family are all Navy and move around the country without much notice, we didn't have anyone else and both of our hours are too erratic to manage with day care," Hadrian replied.

"What do you do?" someone asked. The others looked at him curiously.

"International counter terrorism," Hadrian replied. He had a feeling that attitudes around him might change if he revealed that the other part of his job was law enforcement.

"That sounds exciting," someone said.

"It really isn't most of the time," Hadrian said chuckling. "It's hours of sifting through data looking for the one small snippet that might mean something, hours of surveillance for a few hours of excitement and sometimes moments of sheer terror, hoping you haven't just fucked it all up and started another war."

The women laughed not realizing how serious Hadrian was about what he did. The Death Eaters were nearly all accounted for but there was a new potential Dark Lord in Germany trying to collect followers and several other wannabes in the Balkan states. Taking out the wrong one could change the balance of power and lead to the uprising they were trying to prevent. These women and millions of others across the world slept soundly in their beds each night never knowing how hard agents like Hadrian were working to maintain the peace they took for granted. It was this that would eventually drive Hadrian into returning to work no matter how much he wanted to stay home with Tim and their children.

A/N: Thank you to sandipi, KEZZ 1, starie78, Kourtney Uzu Yato, aisa.32, Fallow54 (Guest), charm13insomnia, kimbarn30, Firehedgehog, madnessdownunder2, lilly-flower15, Tierra741, knuckles 8, daithi4377, mother oracle, Melikalilly, icyquest4, Rainbow2007, buterflypuss, DarkRavie, snapeknight, DS2010, blackphoenix4ever, delia cerrano, luramos, Criminal Minds Queen, IshipToomanyThings, mooneysfate, hellkiss, Rori Potter, acherongoddess, CandiceHall5, Silvermane1, Merlenyn, -Line, Chezakeeba, , Rebecca (Guest), Serpent91, Coru 32, kirsty21, Harriverse, Guest, 16, blinddivinity, Beth9891, ChelseasDeadSmile, little chibi cherub and all those who followed and favourited for your support.


	79. Chapter 79

**Chapter 79**

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or NCIS or any of their characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do **NOT** give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

Daisy was almost three months old by the time the Admiral deployed again and Heather dutifully saw her husband off at the dock, said all the expected things to the other wives present, comforting the teary ones and reassuring the first timers. She then quickly returned home to change and pack the car before heading to DC to visit her son and grandchildren.

Arriving in DC she realized she never had Tim's address, all her gifts had been sent to a post office box or his office since he informed them he'd moved out of his apartment soon after they'd last visited him at home. A quick phone call gave her the address and directions which she hastily scrawled on an old envelope after promising not to put either into her phone.

"Now we just have to wait and see whether she makes it through the wards," Tim told Hadrian anxiously as he disconnected the call.

"She should, Sarah always has in spite of her belief that the Admiral would accept us when she told him. Remember it wasn't a spur of the moment decision on her part, she'd been thinking about it for a while," Hadrian replied hugging his husband.

Hadrian checked with the elves that the guest room was ready and that his mother would like the menu planned for the next couple of days and more importantly that the elves all knew that his mother was not allowed to know about magic. They both looked over the house and made sure all the magical items and toys were locked away for the visit, not just downstairs but up in the nursery and children's bedrooms as well. Teddy was old enough to understand that Grandma Heather did not know about magic and that he wasn't allowed to talk about it when she was there, just like his school friends' families. Rosie wasn't but that was okay, she didn't really speak well enough to tell her and if she asked for any magical toys or games hopefully they could just distract her easily enough with the new toys Hadrian and Tim had put away for that purpose.

Heather followed the directions confidently enough, she was more than used to having to learn to get around in new cities, it wasn't until she arrived at the house that she thought she must have made a mistake somewhere. She knew from comments, Sarah had made that Hadrian and Tim had a nice house and were quite well off but she also thought they said they lived in an actual house, not a mansion converted to townhouses or condos. Still perhaps someone there could explain to her where she'd gone wrong with the directions before she had to call Tim and admit that she'd got lost.

The gates were open and she drove up the driveway admiring the perfectly manicured garden. She could see a swing and children's toys off to the side but there was no sign of the climbing frame Teddy had told her about when they visited the orangutans. Still she got out of the car and walked to the door surprised to see only one bell.

Tim opened the door just before she reached it. "Hi Mom," he said smiling.

Heather hurried over to give him a hug. She jumped startled at the clang of the gates closing and turned to look at them in consternation.

"It's okay, Hadrian was going to close them once he knew you were here before he let Teddy out of the house to greet you, Tim explained deliberately misleading his mother into thinking they were controlled electronically from the house. There were lots of little things in the house like that, not noticeable to a casual guest but which they'd have to be careful about if Heather was going to stay more than a couple of days.

Teddy came barreling out of the house and Tim caught him before he risked knocking his Grandma Heather over.

"Hello Teddy," Heather said.

"Hello Grandma Heather," Teddy replied suddenly a little shy. It had been months since their trip to the zoo and he'd only spoken to her on the phone sporadically.

"Come and help me with Grandma Heather's bags," Tim said recognizing the problem. He gave the little boy something to carry and let him lead them into the house.

"Daisy's asleep but Rosie just woke up from her nap," Tim said. "She's usually a little grumpy and clingy at first so you mustn't mind if she doesn't want to give you a hug."

"You have a beautiful home. How many townhouses are in the building?" Heather asked.

Tim blushed a little, he was used to the grandeur of the house now, to him it was just home, but he was always slightly embarrassed by people's first impressions of it. "It's all ours. Like we told you it's a bit big for us but it was a steal for a place with a decent garden in a good school district within commute of both Quantico and the Navy Yard. It was very run down before Hadrian renovated and restored it. I think Hades has photos somewhere of the wreck it was. Even the squatters didn't want to live here." Well that was because of the wards which prevented a lot of the damage other long empty houses suffered from, but he couldn't explain that.

"Well it is lovely now, but it must be a lot of work to keep it up, not to mention the taxes on a lot house this size, and a bit big for the five of you is quite an understatement," Heather commented.

"It is but it's relaxing too, and really a big room seems to be easier to keep clean and tidy than a small cluttered room and we have help," Tim replied leading her into the house and into the breakfast bay where they ate most of their breakfasts, lunches and snacks. "Would you like a drink, coffee, milk or some juice. It's snack time for the kids."

Hadrian had Rosie strapped into the high chair with her sippy cup and some pieces of fruit. Teddy ran ahead and climbed up on his chair and helped himself to the fruit platter.

"Hello Heather. Welcome. What would you like to drink? The kettle's just about boiled.

"I'll get drinks, tea Hadrian? Help yourself to the food, Mom. Don't be shy or you'll miss out, Teddy must be growing again he seems to always be starving hungry" Tim told his Mom.

Heather smiled and Teddy grinned. Tim returned to the table with coffee for he and his mother, tea for Hadrian and a cup of milk for Teddy.

"The house is lovely Hadrian, Tim said it was almost a ruin, it must have been an incredible amount of work," Heather said, silently adding 'and money.'

"It was a lot of work but I had some great help. My ancestors must've been rolling in their graves though, most of the old family money came from the decision made by a many times great grandfather not to sell off parcels of land and spend a ruinous amount trying to maintain the original manor house as most of his peers were doing and instead pulled the manor down and built a more sensible sized house and covered the rest of the estate in modest houses to bring in a decent rental income as the city reached our borders. Mind you their reasonable sized house was pretty much the same size as this though it has also been converted to luxury flats and rented out a generation or two ago," Hadrian said.

"I understand the decision but it is a pity to see the grand old architecture of a bygone era be destroyed," Heather said.

"Oh it wasn't a beautiful building, from the paintings and the plans I have of it. It was built one wing at a time over several hundred years as the family fortunes flourished, it looked more like a hodgepodge of styles, the oldest section was a small 6th century fortress expanded to become a manor during the 8th to 10th century with a gothic arched great hall added in the 12th century, then a Tudor wing where the family actually lived until the whole thing was bulldozed in the mid 1700's" Hadrian replied.

"The national trust must have been screaming in protest," Heather said shocked.

"No, the manor was pulled down over a hundred years before the national trust was founded. Ironically the replacement house was recently listed, which I suppose is a compliment to the firm who divided it into flats that they kept as many original features as possible," Hadrian replied. "I have seen them, they are nice, though the national trust listing has dramatically increased the maintenance costs."

"You don't approve of the national trust?" heather asked surprised.

"I do in theory, preserving our history is important, but there are a lot of uninhabitable ruins in England that the owners are eagerly waiting for them fall down completely so the site can be cleared and used because it isn't practical or affordable to restore them," Hadrian replied. "The real problems are that once a building has been listed, it's listed forever no matter how run down or damaged it becomes, which limits how you can convert them to modern use and contractors jack up their prices because of the increased difficulty with planning and regulations." It wasn't really a problem for Hadrian because any and all maintenance on his properties was done invisibly by house elves and the preservation spells stopped them from falling down around his tennants' ears.

Heather was a little shocked at these hints of exactly how wealthy Hadrian might be and to give herself time to process, turned to speak to the child.

"Are you enjoying having another little sister, Teddy? Heather asked.

Teddy shrugged, "She's too little to play, all she does is sleep and cry," he said matter-of-factly.

Tim and Hadrian were relieved that he didn't sound resentful over the times caring for the baby took his parents attention.

"She will be big enough before we know it, she's already grown out of all her first set of clothes," Hadrian said ruefully.

"I always hated having to let go of their outfits as they grew out of them," Heather commiserated.

"Yes, but at least I'm only putting them away for the future. I'm pretty sure we will have at least one more child," Hadrian said, agreeing with the sentiment. As much as he delighted in the fact Daisy, Rosie and Teddy were all growing and developing normally it was sad to have to pack up his favourite outfits as they grew out of them.

"Are you hoping for a little boy next?" Heather asked.

"One of my ancestors entailed their estate in a way that a girl cannot inherit and my nearest male relative on that side is a total git. I would rather not see him have anything I can prevent him from having," Hadrian said simplifying the situation. "But if you're asking if I would have preferred that Daisy was a boy or if we're going to have another child simply because she is a girl then no. My best friend growing up was one of seven children and while I can't see us having quite so many another one or two would be more than welcome."

"I was quite happy to have two children, though I did regret that they were so far apart in age. Because Tim left for college when Sarah was only five I despaired of them ever being really close as they got older but they seem to be growing closer again now," Heather said.

Tim knew the problem between him and Sarah had always been less about the age difference and more about the difference in the way the Admiral had treated them. Now that they were both away from his influence and had agreed not to argue about him, they'd been able to sort out their issues and develop a true sibling bond.

"If Hadrian needs a male heir doesn't that mean that the children would both be his?" Heather asked.

"No, we both agreed that we weren't ready for this to be our last child," Tim said.

"But it does mean that if you had a son you would find out the paternity!" Heather said.

"No it means that Hadrian's name will go on the birth certificate if we have a boy," Tim denied. "That wouldn't make the baby any less my son too and I don't care if my son isn't a McGee."

"Does it really make that much difference to you. What if I said that Rosie and Daisy were both Hadrian's biological children? Would you still want to stay and get to know them? Still want to be their Grandma?" Tim demanded. "This is the last time we are having this conversation Mom. Next time you bring it up I'm going to consider it a rejection of your grandchildren and my family.

Tim turned away not seeing the way his mother paled. She hadn't consciously meant it like that.

"You must have been up early to see the Admiral off this morning and Tim's told me how tiring standing for all the speeches before they set sail can be, would you like a rest before dinner? I'll show you your room, it's pretty soundproofed from the children's rooms so you shouldn't be disturbed," Hadrian offered, seeing how pale she looked. Even if it was just a reaction to Tim's telling off, she would probably appreciate a chance to be alone to regain her composure.

"I wouldn't mind a chance to unpack a little, I always feel a little bit disconnected until I have my special things out and around me," Heather said grateful for the chance to think things through and regain her equilibrium. "A side effect of moving too often with the Navy." She made excuses.

Hadrian smiled, playing along to set her at ease. "Tim's the same, he has to unpack his kit the minute we arrive somewhere even if we're only staying for the weekend. I on the other hand spent six years living out of my trunk in a shared dorm at boarding school so I rarely feel the need to unpack unless I'm at home."

Heather actually shuddered at the thought of living out of a trunk and Tim offered to escort her to her room. "Do you have more luggage in the car?" he asked.

"All the things in the trunk. Several bags and boxes, some of your things I had in storage that I thought you might want now you have your own home and family. Some gifts for the children," Heather admitted handing him the car keys.

Tim looked at the full trunk and knowing his mother's room looked out the side of the house not the front, called for the house elves to cast lightening charms on everything until he'd got it upstairs, set to dispel as soon as the items next left his hands.

He hauled it all upstairs. "How long is the Admiral deployed?" he asked beginning to suspect his mother might've planned to stay with them until he returned.

"Three full months, he gets back on December 20th," Heather replied cheerfully.

Tim smiled reminiscently, she sounded like she did when he was small and the then Commander deployed to sea, before he rose high enough in the ranks that his family had to present themselves in a way to be a credit to him and his ambitions whether he was in port or not. Sarah wouldn't remember this but when he was a child and it was only he and his mother at home life was very laidback and easygoing while his father was away. Tim realised in retrospection since having children of his own that it wasn't a good way to bring up a child. The two widely disparate sets of expectations had probably led to most of the early clashes he'd had with his father, the young boy resenting the sudden return to stiff formality and the returning father not understanding why his son was having so much difficulty meeting his standards. He'd spoken about it with Hadrian, who had agreed that in hindsight his mother was equally culpable for the early problems with the relationship with his father. Tim and Hadrian were both careful not to do it to their children. If Hadrian was away on assignment Tim made sure that his absence didn't change the children's routines any more than absolutely necessary and Hadrian ensured that the rules and discipline standards remained exactly the same whether Tim was home so there wasn't any reason for the children to feel insecure when one of them was away working or to be anything other than pleased when their fathers returned to them.

"And are you staying with us for the whole two months?" Tim asked as he carried in the last of the luggage.

"Not quite, I thought I'd stay here until I went to Jillie's for thanksgiving if that's okay with you, and then hoped you would come to your Aunt's with me," Heather replied.

"You're welcome to stay until Thanksgiving. I haven't asked for that weekend off, though I still can if you're inviting all of us to come with you. We'd need to book a hotel. I can't imagine Aunt Jillie will be happy if five extra people decided to come and stay on such short notice and she probably doesn't have the room," Tim replied. He tried to sound non-confrontational but the underlying message was clear. We are a family, invite us all or none of us! He was not going to leave Hadrian and the children alone for Thanksgiving so he could go to family weekend with his mother, even if Hadrian encouraged him to get back into regular contact with them. These people were his mother's side of the family so technically shouldn't be affected by the fact his father had pretty much disowned him. But it was always the Admiral's reaction he'd been concerned about and now that his father had been informed of his marriage, he had no reason to keep it from the rest of the family.

"It's quite short notice to add so many people to dinner as well," his mother murmured.

"We don't need to come, we do have plans with my team and Hadrian's if we don't catch a case and if we do I'd have to cancel anyway," Tim replied casually, acting like it would be no big deal to be prevented from attending his family Thanksgiving party.

"You haven't managed to come to a family holiday in years," Heather said sadly.

"I've spent every holiday in the last three years with my family, Mom. We just weren't welcome in yours," Tim replied bluntly. "Are you telling me that that has changed? Just because the Admiral's deployed. You know that someone will eventually tell the Admiral that we were there, and that you invited us. This is your decision Mom, I think you need to sleep on it and call Aunt Jillie in the morning if you still want us to go."

Heather sighed. "I want to spend Thanksgiving with my family. That's you and Sarah and Hadrian and my grandchildren."

"You're welcome to stay and have Thanksgiving with us, if you'd prefer not to tell your sister," Tim said sighing and getting up. "I'll see you later."

-o0o-

"Mom's planning on staying until Thanksgiving," Tim told Hadrian once they were alone.

"That's fine, she's your mother of course she wants to spend time with you while she's free to," Hadrian said understandingly. "Did she bring up the family Thanksgiving party again?"

"She did, I invited her to stay here for Thanksgiving dinner with us if she doesn't want to tell her sister about you and the kids but I'm not leaving you here on your own over the holiday," Tim said sighing.

"I wouldn't really mind. You know Thanksgiving isn't celebrated at all in Britain. It wouldn't upset me not to celebrate," Hadrian said calmly.

"All the more reason not to leave the kids home with you that weekend, you need me to help learn all of the traditions of the celebration," Tim replied.

Hadrian laughed. "So we're hosting a Thanksgiving dinner then, who else are you going to invite?"

Tim shook his head. "No. I have no doubt Mom will choose to go to Aunt Jillie's, especially after spending nearly eight weeks with us, the question is will she tell Aunt Jillie about you."

"Is Sarah going to your aunt's party? Surely your mom knows that if your aunt asks why you're not there Sarah will tell them the truth," Hadrian said.

"You think she still will after what happened with the Admiral?" Tim asked.

"Your sister is a lousy liar. Even if she doesn't mean to tell them, they'll know she's lying about you having to work," Hadrian offered thoughtfully.

"And Aunt Jillie will ring me to ask what's going on," Tim said sighing.

"Do you think they'll react like the Admiral?" Hadrian asked concerned.

"Nobody reacts to anything like the Admiral!" Tim snorted. "I think they'll be fine with it. They'll be more upset about the Admiral disowning me than me being gay. Are you really okay with her staying for a couple of months?"

"Yes, she's your Mom, it will be fine," Hadrian said. "So long as you're okay with her being here?"

Tim sensed that he wasn't being entirely truthful, though he seemed more anxious than resentful. "What about the magic? I know you don't want to tell her about it," Tim asked.

"I didn't want to tell her because I don't want to give her a reason to turn on you. You assumed it was the Admiral's ambition for you that led to them deciding to bind you magic and that fits well with what I know of him, but what if it wasn't the only reason? Or if it was his reason but not the reason she didn't fight him on it?" Hadrian explained.

Tim looked shocked for a moment. "You think she might have been afraid of magic?"

"Well, binding a child's magic seems like a monstrous act to me because magic is such a big part of me, but if you hadn't had many episodes of accidental magic and you didn't know about it then maybe it doesn't seem like such a huge thing to someone who doesn't have magic themselves. Or maybe your accidental magic had been violent and they'd had to send out magical assistance to fix it and wipe memories. Heather isn't particularly religious which is the other main reason parents deny their child access to their magic, so it's probably either fear, the Admiral or both," Hadrian replied.

"Are you going to be able to hide all traces of magic for a month? This isn't a totally nonmagical home, no matter how well you've adapted it so I have full use of everything. And there's the elves. We can't just give them the two months off or send them to one of your other houses for the month, they'd see it as a terrible punishment, and I refuse to hurt them like that" Tim asked. "Not to mention that I don't know that we could keep up with all the work that needs to be done without them."

"I can hide my use of magic easily enough, and the elves understand that they need to be unseen by all guests, it's standard procedure for them in other homes. They aren't upset about it. I'm not so sure about Teddy, if your mother still has the memories of finding out about magic and deciding to force you to give it up then she may recognize it in the children if she sees any," Hadrian said, slightly worried. "Keep an eye on Teddy just in case. I'd rather tell her and have her take it out on me than the children."

"What else is worrying you?" Tim asked perceptively.

"This is probably your father's last deployment. He won't be going away again so your mom will have him home permanently after December, she won't have another opportunity to visit us without him knowing where she's going. What happens then? Will she stand up to him and visit anyway? I don't want the children getting to love her if she's going to abandon them to keep the Admiral happy once he's on shore all the time. They won't understand and I don't want to see them hurt."

Tim pulled Hadrian in for a hug. "I'll talk to her, I know she won't deliberately hurt her grandchildren."

"I doubt she ever deliberately set out to hurt you either," Hadrian pointed out. He didn't need to remind Tim of the number of times he had been hurt by her failure to stand up to the Admiral and support her son even when she later told him she wanted to.

A/N: Thank you to veyronking995, kivmbarn30, lilly-flower15, knuckles 8, Lucky Guard, charm13insomnia, starie78, caged21hearts, Melikalilly, MayaHikari, Kourtney Uzu Yato, Village-Mystic, Rori Potter, acherongoddess, Rainbow2007, DarkRavie, xDarklightx, aisa.32, blackphoenix4ever, delia cerrano, Reader Ethiriel, Gottahavemyncis, buterflypuss, Guest, sandipi, Harriverse, madnessdownunder2, Lady Kaiki, Locket1, yngoldfogee, DS2010, julschristine975, rmiser1994, serenityselena, luramos, mithrilandtj, Fallow54, Silvermane1, Vladimir Mithrander, kirsty21, Sakihinata, lia, Erimenthe, emmalilly21, 16 and all those who followed and favourited for your support.


	80. Chapter 80

**Chapter 80**

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or NCIS or any of their characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do **NOT** give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

"You look stressed out! What's up McGoo?" Tony asked as they broke for lunch the next day. It had been a day in the office going through cold cases so the problem shouldn't have been work. "Did you find something in the case you're looking at?"

"No, I don't think so, but it's one of Gibbs cases from before you joined the team," Tim replied as if that explained it, and it did somewhat, Gibbs was always like a bear with a sore head about the cases he hadn't managed to solve. It was hell for the reviewing agent and nobody was sure whether the fallout was worse if you did manage to find a new lead or if you had to admit that there weren't any and they still weren't going to solve it.

"But you were already stressed when you came in this morning, you look run over" Ziva refuted.

"I think you mean run down, Ziva," Tim corrected her.

"Okay what's up?" Tony demanded.

"My mother arrived to stay with us until Thanksgiving, yesterday. This is the first time Hadrian's been alone with her, well alone except for the children, but they'll both nap during the day," Tim explained.

"Well it could be worse Tim! It could be your mother-in-law," Tony said jovially.

"Considering Hadrian's Mom has been dead twenty five years, that would definitely be worse," Tim said flatly knowing that the others didn't realise that for a witch, being dead didn't always mean unable to visit.

"Where's the Admiral?" Tony asked remembering the incident where Tim's father had tried to attack him in the bullpen.

"Deployed for the next three months, the fleet left port Saturday and is due back December 20th," Tim replied. "This will probably be his last deployment. He's being shunted sideways into a desk job."

"So, he didn't get the promotion to Washington he was hoping for?" Ziva asked.

"No, he was furious and Mom's disappointed not to be near us. There are rumours going around that SecNav is going to transfer him to the Pacific Fleet, or to command one of the overseas bases. He speaks some Japanese, Spanish and German, though he isn't really fluent in any of them."

"Wouldn't that be a promotion?" Tony asked.

"No the scuttlebutt has it that most of the postings the brass is considering for him would be a decrease in the number of men and boats he's responsible for. It isn't a demotion in rank but it also wouldn't normally considered a step towards promotion," Tim replied. "And the fact that the rumours are already going around means that he's going to be publicly embarrassed.

"Isn't that a good thing?" Ziva asked. "That he'll be posted a long way away from you and the children."

"It is, but the kids will miss having a grandmother. Particularly after she spends the next eight weeks with us," Tim replied. "Living so far away will give her an excuse not to stand up to the Admiral about staying in our lives even though he has disowned me."

"Or it could give her an excuse to lie to the Admiral about who she is visiting and staying with when she returns to the eastern seaboard for visits to your sister," Ziva suggested.

"Families are the devil!" Tony said commiserating.

"You mean fathers," Tim replied. "Not all father's try to ruin their sons. We were just unlucky."

"Yeah, I suppose we were," Tony said somberly. "But aren't you afraid that you'll turn out the same?"

"I was, particularly when Hadrian first got custody of Teddy, but Hadrian reminds me that his guardians were both neglectful, selfish violent child abusing bigots and Hadrian doesn't have a selfish, bigoted or violent bone in his body. My father never took the time to get to know me the way I know Teddy, the way I will know Rosie and Daisy as they grow, he never tried to understand that I was my own person and not just an extension of him. I will never be the man my father is," Tim explained. "You are not the man your father is either. You're a better man in so many ways. I don't believe you need to be afraid that you could ever treat a child the way your father treated you."

"Timothy is correct, neither of you is capable of the neglect and abuse your fathers brought you up with," Ducky said.

"Hi Ducky," Tony greeted the older man but his eyes still reflected doubt in himself.

"Believe me Anthony, you are a good man and if you choose to have children you are capable of being a good father and I do not believe your own conscience would let you be anything less than an exemplary father to any child, after all between the three of you, you all know exactly what not to do," Ducky said slightly sadly. "How are your children Timothy?" he asked, more cheerfully.

"They are all growing like weeds, Ducky. My mother is staying with us while the Admiral's deployed, so they're enjoying getting to know their grandmother. They do still miss their Grandducky though, Teddy was asking after you last night," Tim replied smiling at the older man.

"And I miss them, is it okay that I call in this weekend with your mother here?" Ducky asked.

"Sure, in fact we should host a dinner party so she can meet everyone. I'll talk to Hadrian about it," Tim replied.

"How long she staying?" Gibbs asked.

"Until Thanksgiving," Tim said.

Gibbs winced, he felt for Hadrian. Having your mother-in-law visit was traumatic enough, having her move in for eight or nine weeks would have been his definition of hell. With any of his mothers-in-law. "If ya need some time off, let me know."

"Thanks Boss," Tim said gratefully.

"If your mother is staying until Thanksgiving we should put off the dinner for a couple of weeks to let everyone settle in. I imagine she's wanting to spend time catching up with your sister," Ducky suggested.

"Good idea Duck," Gibbs seconded.

"Okay shall we say Sunday the 18th?" Tim replied. "I'll check with Hadrian and confirm the date, but Ducky feel free to visit the kids before then if you'd like, you too everyone."

The others all murmured their agreements but Tim knew Gibbs was the only one likely to take up the offer and that would be more to check out his mother than to visit with Hadrian and the children.

-o0o-

It was a couple of days later that Heather bought up Thanksgiving Dinner with Hadrian.

"Do you celebrate Thanksgiving?" she asked.

"Yes I do, though only since I moved to America and met Tim," Hadrian replied. "The only American holiday that's really made it across the pond is Halloween and even that I didn't tend to celebrate except for the school arranged mandatory celebration, it's my parents' anniversary. I'd never even heard of Thanksgiving until I moved here, I wasn't a big TV or movie watcher. Tim jokingly says I must have grown up under a rock, but my boarding school didn't believe in children watching television and there wasn't a movie theatre in the village we were allowed to visit."

"How did you occupy your time?" Heather asked surprised.

"Sports, chess, card games and reading or playing on the lake in the summer and in the snow in the winter," Hadrian replied. "We didn't know any different so it wasn't too much of a hardship."

"Surely all your classmates would have had one show they complained about missing watching?" Heather asked.

"Sure, most of them, but they weren't the same shows. Can you imagine the arguments in the common room with forty or fifty teenagers all wanting to watch their favourite channel? Ron and Neville's parents went to the school so they severely limited their children's TV access during the summer as well so they wouldn't have favourite programs to miss, Dean was mad into football and all the commentaries, Seamus liked Blackadder and black comedy and anything with naked women, and I didn't much like any of it. My friend Hermione only likes documentaries and one of her roommates was addicted to soaps and the other to reality TV. And that was just our year level in our house."

"Why didn't you like Television?" Heather asked.

Hadrian laughed. "Sheer contrariness most likely. My cousin absolutely loved it so it had to be rubbish."

Tim and Heather both laughed at that. The truth was Hadrian had been so glad to get away from his relatives that he'd embraced all the elements of wizarding culture and if wizards didn't use electricity and watch television then during his first four years at Hogwarts he didn't want to either. It was only after becoming disillusioned with the wizarding world during what should have been his seventh year that he was willing to pick and choose the best of both worlds.

"I know you said you and your cousin didn't get along, but it was that bad?" Heather asked shocked.

"Honestly, it was worse! But to be completely fair to him we were both manipulated to despise each other by his parents. My aunt and my mother were apparently close as children but when my mother got offered a place at a boarding school for the gifted Petunia was hurt and angry that they were being separated and extremely jealous that she wasn't invited. When my aunt and uncle took me in they already knew that I had a legacy position at that same school, funded by my parents. Aunt Petunia was still incredibly jealous of my mother and angry at her. She did everything she could to ensure we didn't become friendly so history wouldn't repeat itself. To the detriment of both my cousin and myself. There's more but it's complicated," Hadrian tried to explain, realising that it didn't make much sense since he couldn't explain Petunia's almost pathological hatred for magic.

"Do you keep in touch with them at all?" Heather asked.

"I believe they are in prison for embezzlement," Hadrian replied.

"All three of them?" Heather asked.

"I think so, I chose not to have any more to do with the case than I had to, once I found out who was stealing from my company, I turned it all over to my solicitor to deal with and asked not to be informed of the outcome," Hadrian said dismissively.

"And they're your only living relatives? Is your cousin the one you're trying to have a son to prevent from inheriting part of your estate?"

"Oh no, they're Mum's sister and her family, the money was all on Dad's side, though I wouldn't want to leave the Dursleys anything either," Hadrian replied. "I don't have any close family on Dad's side. The git I don't want to inherit is I think a fourth or fifth cousin. And I'm not trying to be petty in not wanting him to inherit, his father blew through most of that part of the family's money, paying bribes and funding a terrorist organization, and the son is very like the father. He's already on a government watch list, though they can't prove any wrongdoing on his part since he was a teenager."

Heather looked shocked. "So, you're telling me you need to have a baby boy for national security?" she asked.

"Something like that. But I have the money to have several more children, and I personally would love nothing more than another one or two, if we get desperate enough we will use IVF and select for a boy," Hadrian admitted. He didn't mention that there were already backup plans in place to prevent the Malfoy line from inheriting. Or that those plans were the only thing preventing Kingsley and Sir Geoffrey pressuring Hadrian to produce a son immediately.

"Are you allowed to do that?" Heather asked.

"In the interests of British national security, they'd be prepared to look the other way," Hadrian replied.

"They wouldn't have to, it is legal here in the United States," Tim said, having arrived during the conversation. In truth there were spells to guarantee a boy and a magical child but since the magical price of using such a dark spell was to sacrifice future fertility and had an undisclosed effect on the mother's health, neither Tim nor Hadrian wanted to even contemplate using them yet. Hadrian suspected that these spells were one of the reasons that many pureblood families finally managed to birth a wizard after a long line of squibs. It was also one of the earlier reasons the Weasleys were so despised by purebloods in Britain, the ability to produce wizard after wizard without making such a sacrifice. If Ginny hadn't set her cap at marrying the-boy-who-lived and then proved herself to be immoral, deceitful and more than a little insane, there would've been plenty of pureblood families who would have paid a very generous bride price to marry the girl into their family, not all of them dark families either. Of course, Molly and Ginny's behaviour had given all of Wizarding Britain plenty of reasons to be glad they hadn't offered the Weasleys a betrothal contract and to hate them more personally since the end of the war.

"So you do enjoy celebrating Thanksgiving now?" Heather asked, returning to her original line of questioning.

"I do, I have a lot to be thankful for," Hadrian said. He wasn't well up on the idea of celebrating the pilgrims being offered food by the American natives but he understood that the children would learn about that meaning of the holiday in school, he and Tim focused on giving thanks for their blessings during the year just gone, not unlike the pagan Yule.

"Do you want to come to Tim's family Thanksgiving?" Heather asked.

"I'd like to meet more of Tim's family, and I'd like the children to have more of an extended family. I'm not willing to take them somewhere they won't be accepted though. They have Tim's team of course Grandpa Gibbs and Grandducky, Jimmy and Breena and Ziva and Tony but I don't know how many of them would stay in touch if Tim was transferred off the MCRT. And I have no family other than a godbrother in England," Hadrian replied.

"A godbrother?" Heather asked.

"His mother was my Godmother and my Mum was his. Unfortunately, they were both gone by the time we were eighteen months old and the relatives that took us in came from very different worlds so we didn't grow up together," Hadrian explained. "We met at school and shared a dorm for six years but didn't really become close friends until towards the end of that time. He's one of the few friends I still keep up with. We spent a week holidaying together last summer and Tim and I are godparents to his second son."

-o0o-

Heather fitted into the household without too many problems, she appreciated the effort her son and his partner put into making her feel welcome, though she was confused by the fact they tended to hover within earshot whenever she was with the children. She liked Hadrian though she didn't really see him as a son-in-law yet, the time she spent with them was slowly changing that. When she'd seen them last she saw that Tim was determined to make her see them as a couple and a family but spending time in their home it came more naturally. They were a family and a loving and supportive one. This was the family her Tim had always deserved but she had failed to provide for him.

Heather had met up with Sarah a couple of times during the week for a quick coffee or lunch but she had a big term paper and wasn't able to take much time off. It was due Friday before midnight and Sarah came to visit them on Saturday after her shift at the coffee shop. Heather was pleased to see that Tim and Hadrian both greeted her with pleasure, though Tim did roll his eyes when she handed over her laptop and asked that he go over it and see why it was working so slowly lately. Tim disappeared into his workroom and Hadrian backed off with the children letting the two women have some time together, only interfering when Sarah started hinting to her mother about a new winter wardrobe.

"You've got a birthday coming up, and I know Tim was planning on taking you shopping for it next weekend, maybe you should wait and go with them Heather, make it a family outing just the three of you, that way you don't accidentally double up on something and miss some other necessities," he suggested.

Sarah frowned for a moment knowing she probably would have got more clothes if her Mom took her shopping just the two of them. But on the other hand, it would be fun to be out just the three of them like when she was younger. It had been a long time since Tim had been around while her parents were there and Hadrian was right that they needed time to reconnect as a family after all that had happened this year, and as much as she loved Tim's husband it was essential that it was just the three of them so they could speak their minds openly.

"I took all the viruses you've picked up off it, upgraded your antivirus software and am defragmenting the hard drive which should help, but I suspect the main problem is that you've been using it on your bed again and let it overheat," Tim said as he entered the room.

From Sarah's guilty expression, he was undoubtedly right.

"Is there a way for her to have it on her bed without it overheating, some sort of barrier she could use," Hadrian asked.

"She could use a lap-desk with a fan. She'd have to replace it fairly frequently because having it on top of a feather doona will shorten the life of the fan but it would be cheaper than replacing the internal heat sink, or risking frying the whole motherboard," Tim said.

"Would you use a lap desk if we bought you one?" Hadrian asked Sarah. He knew without him as an intermediary the siblings would just end up yelling at each other, and even if he or Tim later bought the lap desk she wouldn't use it out of spite.

"It would depend how it felt, if it changed the position of the computer too much or made it uncomfortable," Sarah admitted.

"Would you promise to at least try it?" Hadrian pressed. "If Tim's right about the problem, and you know he probably is, there's no point buying you a new laptop. If the way you're using it is causing the problem and you don't change anything then your new laptop will soon have all the same problems as your current one."

"I'll try it," Sarah promised rolling her eyes. Tim looked at him gratefully, it would have taken a lot more yelling and probably a laptop damaged beyond repair before they reached that agreement without him.

Heather watched the discussion with amusement. Sarah clearly considered Hadrian to be family, and Hadrian treated her like a baby sister though it was doubtful if he was actually older than her or not. He certainly didn't look it, though he acted as old as Tim if not older a lot of the time, except when he was playing with the children and didn't realise anyone else was present, when she saw that it was hard to believe he was much older than Teddy he was so enthusiastic about exploring the toys and joining in on Teddy's imaginings.

-o0o-

The three of them enjoyed their shopping together though Tim found browsing women's clothing and waiting for his sister and mother to try things on quite boring and tedious. In the end, between Sarah's enthusiasm for new clothing, Heather and Tim's generosity and Tim's earnest request that his mother not spend any more money on presents for his children, Sarah got most of the things she wanted, and Tim was exceedingly grateful not to be married to a woman so he probably wouldn't have to go shopping like this anytime soon. He already had plans for Sarah to make days like this up to him by taking Rosie and Daisy shopping when the time came.

More importantly the day gave the three of them time to hang out and celebrate their freedom to be themselves, like they used to when Tim and Sarah were kids and the then Captain McGee deployed. They didn't discuss Tim's marriage, children or job, or Sarah's university studies, instead the reminisced about other outings they'd made over the years and other good memories of just the three of them.

-o0o-

"I want you all to come to Jillie's for Thanksgiving," Heather said to Tim that night.

"Okay, I'll apply for days off and ring Aunt Jillie and tell her we're coming," Tim said.

"I can call Jillie," Heather replied.

"No, I want to call her, Thanksgiving's at her home, I need to know we are welcome before I take the children there," Tim replied.

Heather nodded and looked away, Tim's uncertainty at being wanted at the family gathering hurt her more than she'd thought it would. She knew she deserved it, especially after keeping her ongoing relationship with them from the Admiral and taking so long to decide that she was ready to admit to the rest of the family that her son was gay.

Tim looked up the number then dialed. Pacing anxiously.

"Hi Aunt Jillie, it's Tim," Tim greeted his aunt politely.

"Tim, please tell me you're not ringing to say you can't come to another family party because of your work?" Jillie greeted him warily. "I don't want to have to tell the family you abandoned them again."

"Actually no. I'm planning to ask for the time off and we're not on rotation so I have a fairly good chance of getting it. I rang to ask you if you have room for me to bring my partner Hadrian and our children? We're not asking you to put us up for the weekend, we can gladly get a hotel room but I know that you have a house full for dinner, and an extra two adults a child, a toddler and a baby may not be easy to accommodate."

"How on earth did you manage to father three children without telling your family you were with someone Timothy McGee?" Jillie exclaimed in shock.

Tim wondered whether the surprise of him having a family had made his aunt overlook the fact that Hadrian was a man's name.

"The Admiral hated Hadrian on first sight. Even before we told him that we were more than friends he wanted me to end my friendship with him. After the Admiral's reaction the first time we tried to tell him and Mom's support of the Admiral's bigotry, I felt that it was better for everyone if we kept it quiet," Tim said gently.

"He doesn't approve of her?" Jillie asked, still having missed what Tim was trying to tell her.

"The Admiral doesn't approve of him, or me. In fact, when he found out he disowned me. Mom's being supportive while he's at sea and now that he knows it's a good time to introduce Hadrian to the rest of the family, while he wont be there to create a scene," Tim said.

"Well then, you bring him and your family to meet us all," Jillie said warmly. "How old are the children and what are their names?"

"Teddy's six, he's my stepson and my daughters, Rosie is two and Daisy is four months old," Tim replied smiling.

"Teddy for Edward or Theodore?" Jillie asked.

"Theodore, Aunt Jillian," Tim replied.

"None of that now Timothy," Jillie said sternly. "Teddy is a cute name, though I can't imagine he'll be happy with it forever."

"I know Aunt Jillie, but we're in no hurry to have him grow up," Tim said.

"You're right, they grow too fast, it seems just a few months ago that you and Amanda were that age," Jillie agreed sighing.

"You definitely got that right, I come home from working a case and they seem older than when I last saw them," Tim sighed.

"We'll you and your young man are welcome here Tim. I'm glad you can come," Jillie said firmly. "We could squeeze you into the attic room, you and your family could have it to yourself."

"No thanks Aunty, we'll get a motel room. Daisy isn't very good at sleeping during the night yet," Tim said smiling warmly. "I'm looking forward to seeing you all again."

"Any allergies I need to know about?" Jillie asked.

"Hadrian's allergic to mushrooms," Tim replied not wanting to explain that they caused an emotional reaction so strong they made him ill for the rest of the day. Teddy has no allergies but he'd be a carnivore if we let him, Rosie eats everything but we try to limit how many artificial preservatives she has for our own sanity, they make her a bit hyperactive, and we'll bring Daisy's food with us, she's just starting solids. I've grown out of most of my allergies except for shellfish," Tim reported, listening to his aunt write down notes.

"That's fine Tim, you won't find many preservatives in my cooking, and only one of the sides has raw mushrooms," Jillie replied.

"Thanks Aunt Jillie," Tim said. "How are Uncle Pete and Amanda?"

"They're both well, I'm sure your mother told you Amanda's getting married in the spring, and Pete's thinking about cutting back to part time after the end of this school year. Of course he's been saying that the last couple of years so I won't hold my breath," Jillie replied laughing. "Amanda and her fiancé Sam will be here for the whole weekend, she's missed you Timmy. We all have."

"I've missed you all too, Aunt Jillie," Tim said quietly. "I have to go but we'll see you for Thanksgiving."

"I look forward to it, Tim. Thanks for calling," Jillie said seriously.

"Was that Tim, is he coming for Thanksgiving?" Pete asked.

"Yes he is," Jillie said sounding shocked, "He's bringing his family."

"You mean Sarah and Aunt Heather?" Amanda asked smiling.

"No, I mean he's bringing his partner and children. Sarah and Heather are already coming," Jillie said. "That makes seventeen for dinner, I might need another Turkey and some more sides."

The two women fell to planning for the extra mouths to feed, Amanda felt that any change in plan was probably unnecessary because they always had so many leftovers they could easily feed another two adults and a couple of small children but she couldn't stop her mother from fussing that this year would be the exception. Amanda didn't want to add to her stress by grilling her mother why her former favourite cousin had suddenly decided to start attending family functions again after all these years, and why she'd never heard about him having children.

A/N: Thank you to xDarklightx, Melikalilly, julschristine975, knuckles 8, Lientjuhh, DarkRavie, lilly-flower15, Rainbow2007, aisa.32, mooneysfate, Rori Potter, starie78, Kourtney Uzu Yato, sandipi, luramos, Firehedgehog, GoldenTurboKeyblade, lia, delia cerrano, kimbarn30, lillisa34, buterflypuss, Harriverse, sillygabby, 1sunfun, DullReign82, Guest, Lady Kaiki, acherongoddess, serenityselena, Merlenyn, Fallow54, Me, Silvermane1, Locket1, wishgamit, Millie072, BlackBreezy, Goodjoss, HoneyBear84, Rebecca and all those who followed and favourited for your support.


	81. Chapter 81

Chapter 81

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or NCIS or any of their characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do NOT give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

The team dinner happened a fortnight after Heather arrived, though the team had insisted on making it a potluck meal to make it easier for the two new father's. Gibbs was the first to arrive wanting to be there in case he was needed to keep his team in line. He was prepared to help set up the extra table or something but all the work was done. His contribution to the meal was bread and drinks along with steaks he'd given Tim the day before to grill. He joined Tim outside and took over grilling.

"We eating out here?" he asked.

"Yeah, so long as the weather holds, otherwise we can just carry the tables into the playroom," Tim said gesturing to the folding glass wall into the old ballroom.

"Are they new?" Gibbs asked.

"No you probably just didn't notice them, they look like traditional windows from the inside when they're shut," Tim replied handing over a cold beer.

Duck arrived next with soup and deserts, accompanied by Jimmy who'd brought salad, and ice-cream.

"We're going to have way too much food," Hadrian said laughing, leading them into the kitchen and putting away the food. "Tim and Gibbs are outside grilling and the children are 'helping' Heather tidy their playroom in case we need to move the tables in there if the weather changes.

"Can I do anything to help you my dear," Ducky asked.

"No, everything is just about done," Hadrian declined smiling. "I was just about to offer everyone a drink. Tea? Earl Grey or Darjeeling?"

"Whatever you're having would be lovely, Hadrian," Ducky said gratefully.

"Jimmy? Tea? Coffee? There's beer out in the cooler beside the grill if you'd prefer," Hadrian offered.

"Coffee would be good, thanks," Jimmy smiled.

Hadrian handed him a mug from the cupboard and pointed him to the coffee maker which had just finished brewing.

"Do you want me to take Gibbs a cup?" Jimmy asked.

"Yes, thanks," Hadrian said, busy with the teapot.

Jimmy grabbed another cup and disappeared out the back door with them.

"Who else are we expecting?" Ducky asked.

"Just Tony and Ziva," Hadrian replied.

"You didn't invite Abby," Ducky said concerned.

"Abby is not friend of mine or Tim's," Hadrian said bluntly.

"She is still part of this team, as much as Jimmy and myself are," Ducky countered.

Hadrian sighed, they couldn't invite her because they didn't believe she'd make it through the wards and having her not show up would've caused even more problems for Tim at work than if she found out she'd been excluded.

"And this isn't an official team function. Teddy's old enough to remember how she behaved last time he met her, she frightened him. Tim and I won't risk putting him through that in his own home," Hadrian replied earnestly. "It was her doing Dr Mallard, that she's not welcome."

Ducky was saved from having to answer by Ziva who arrived with a mountain of Tupperware containers piled so high she could barely see where she was going.

Hadrian and Ducky rushed to help.

"What did you make?" Hadrian asked, amused. "Have you been taking more classes?"

"Yes, though I have not had much time for them lately," Ziva replied. "I bought bities and a Black Forest torte,"

Hadrian looked confused. "I believe you meant nibbles, Ziva, the snacks served before a meal," Ducky corrected his friend gently.

"Yes thank you Ducky. Nibbles, where would you like them?"

"Ducky and I were just about to join the team outside. Would you like a cup of tea or coffee? There's earl grey in the pot and cold drinks outside," Hadrian replied.

"Tea would be lovely," Ziva said smiling gratefully.

Hadrian fixed her a cup and then refreshed the teapot, loading it and the coffee and Ziva's nibbles onto the antique tea service, wheeling it out to the deck. Gibbs immediately came over for more coffee.

-o0o-

"You're late!" Gibbs said as Hadrian ushered Tony onto the deck.

Tony flushed. "You try walking down from my apartment with this wonderful smelling lasagne. I was fending off hints for an invitation from all directions."

The team laughed. "You could have invited one of them if you wanted," Hadrian said.

"You could've invited them all, I'm sure we'd have enough food," Tim said, teasing his husband. Hadrian elbowed him in the ribs.

"Gee thanks guys, if they tasted my cooking I'd never get rid of them," Tony said sarcastically.

Once they were all there, Tim went in to get Heather and the children. "Guys this is my Mom, Heather McGee, and you all know Teddy and Rosie, Mom this is my boss Agent Gibbs, my colleagues Agents Tony DiNozzo and Officer Ziva David. And these are our medical examiner Dr Donald Mallard who you would have heard me call Ducky and his assistant Jimmy Palmer. Daisy is napping at the moment but she'll be awake soon, probably the minute lunch is ready," he introduced. "Teddy, Rosie, do you remember everybody?"

The children nodded and shyly said hello. The parents in the group chuckled ruefully remembering their own children's uncanny knack of waking up just in time to prevent their parents from eating in peace. Heather made polite conversation with Ziva while the men gathered around the grill.

The steaks were cooked and dinner was served, Daisy could be heard crying over the baby monitor right on cue and Hadrian excused himself to attend her needs. Dressing her warmly he heated her bottle and brought her outside to feed, handing her to Tim who had finished half his meal and held his hands out for the baby as Hadrian walked past him. He dished himself up a plate and started to eat.

Ziva finished eating and took the baby so that Tim could finish his own meal.

Cooing and talking baby talk to the baby she totally missed the grins from the men around the table at her uncharacteristic behaviour.

Gibbs found himself liking Heather McGee, though he hadn't expected to. The detective in him could see the weakness in her character that explained the automatic deference to many of her husband's points of view, though she had gone against him in refusing to cut Tim out of her life he could understand why Tim had doubts she would stand up to him in person instead of just behind his back. He wondered whether the Admiral knew where his wife was staying while he was deployed. And if he knew what he'd had to say about it. Had Heather come to visit Tim in spite of his opposition or had she lied about who she was visiting.

After they finished eating Daisy was passed around. Rosie was too at first but soon objected to being held and was put down to go and play. She and Teddy headed down to the swings, quickly joined by Tim, Heather, and Ziva.

Ducky watched from the deck. "They're all growing so quickly, it seems just a few weeks ago we were here welcoming Rosie to your family," he said to Hadrian.

"Sometimes it does to me too and others it seems that they must always have been with us. I can't imagine life without them," Hadrian replied.

"The three of them must be a handful. I remember when Kelly was each of their ages and she certainly kept us on our toes all by herself," Gibbs said.

"They each do that!" Hadrian agreed watching Tim push Rosie on the toddler swing, while Teddy showed Ziva how good he was at swinging himself now.

Hadrian fended off offers to help clean up, it would actually be quicker if he was alone in the kitchen so the elves could help. He brought out the deserts under a stasis charm to keep them fresh and safe to eat and set them on the side table before joining Tim down on the lawn with the children and other adults except Ducky who had fallen asleep holding a now also sleeping Daisy. They were playing some sort of ball game where it appeared to Hadrian that Teddy was making up rules as he went along. Though maybe it was just an American ballgame that he wasn't familiar with because nobody was getting frustrated with the little boy's rules.

Rosie soon lost interest in the ball game and wandered off causing Hadrian to chase after her since none of the ball players seemed to notice. He scooped up the little girl and brought her back up to the deck putting her down in the corner amongst her toys, where he could keep an eye on her, secretly casting a tethering spell to keep her there in case he got distracted. He brought out another teapot and settled in to enjoy the hot beverage while he waited for the others to finish their game.

Gibbs took the opportunity to get close to Heather McGee without the others overhearing and asked. "Does the Admiral know you're staying with Tim and Hadrian?"

"He knows I'm in DC visiting my children," Heather replied evasively. "He wasn't happy about it but I told him that he can't force me to disown Tim and more than I've ever been able to make him reach out and make the effort to get to know his son."

"And is he going to be happy to let you leave him alone at home when he's allocated to a shore position? Or will you not be able to visit Tim and Hadrian and the children, once he isn't deployed? Not to mention how's the Admiral going to accept not being allowed to know Tim's address where you'll be staying, when you come to visit him next time?" Gibbs asked bluntly.

Heather paled. "He isn't, I hadn't considered that. But are you sure that Thomas can't be told the address? He won't be here in DC."

"As one of the two people who had to physically restrain your husband long enough for it to sink in that assaulting and grievously harming a NCIS agent in the middle of NCIS headquarters could be a career ending move I can definitely say that both Tim and Hadrian were very relieved that he did not have access to their home and their children," Gibbs told her firmly. "As I already impressed on your daughter, that Thomas McGee is a serious threat to Tim, Hadrian and possibly the children as well. If Tim's father comes after them and the children, he will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law, Admiral or not, and we will prosecute the person who told him where to find them, as a co-conspirator. You have been warned."

Looking at Heather's pale and shaken visage, Gibbs felt slightly guilty but he wasn't going to have either of the McGee women with their rose coloured glasses views, compromise his boy's or grandchildren's safety with ill thought out words.

-o0o-

Eventually they trooped up the steps hot and thirsty and Hadrian distributed drinks, Ducky and Daisy woke too and Tim spirited her upstairs for a nappy change before bringing her back down. She was grumpy and wouldn't go to anyone. Rosie was also starting to whine and rub her eyes so Hadrian took her upstairs to nap and everyone started saying their goodbyes.

"Thanks for coming guys," Tim said showing them to the door with Daisy in his arms.

"Thank you for having us Timothy, thank Hadrian also. I hope it wasn't too much work for the two of you with the new baby," Ducky replied.

"It wasn't Ducky, we were glad to have you all come," Tim said smiling.

"And you're both equally glad to see us go," Jimmy said looking at the exhausted looking new father.

Tony rolled his eyes at Palmer's lack of tact and steered him out the door. "See you Monday, McDaddy!"

"Get some sleep before then," Gibbs ordered, gently for him.

"I hope to Boss," Tim replied. They hadn't had a turned back day since his mother had come to stay and Tim was ready to suggest turning back and going to a hotel or something just to get some unbroken sleep.

The others left, Heather retreated to her room to rest and Hadrian let the elves finish with the clean up.

"I have the portkey to the house in Boston, it's empty, I say we go quietly pack a change of clothes and repeat the weekend there, just the two of us, we'll be back before we're missed," Hadrian suggested.

"Sounds like Heaven, pity we can't take a whole week and go to Hawaii," Tim replied.

"I thought of that, there's no reason why we couldn't turn back a whole week but how are you going to explain getting a tan overnight. Tony would tease you for months for fake-tanning," Hadrian said chuckling. 

Tim laughed, "He'd bring it up for years not months, and being in Hawaii and only being able to go out at dawn and dusk would suck, though I'm sure we could keep ourselves occupied. Boston for the weekend it is," he agreed smiling.

-o0o-

They landed in the front entrance, turned back three days and then made a quick survey of the house before calling the elves. Three of them popped in glad to have the freedom to move about the house without worrying about being seen. "We'll be here for the weekend, just the two of us, can you make up the master bedroom and prepare some meals for us to heat up and food that can easily be prepared. Then go back and help the other Hadrian and I prepare for the party," Tim said.

Hadrian smiled as the elves popped out to follow their orders.

"Are you hungry for dinner?" Hadrian asked.

"No I've been snacking all day," Tim said. "Are you tired."

"A little, it's been a long day. But I'm not sleepy, I just want to spend some time just the two of us," Hadrian said.

"Hot tub?" Tim asked.

Hadrian groaned in pleasure at the idea, grabbed Tim and apparated them upstairs and used his wand to activate the runes to set the hot tub going. The elves had cleaned it as part of the master suite and the runes had the tub heated and ready to go within minutes.

Tim laughed at his eagerness as they stripped themselves off and climbed in. Tim pulled Hadrian onto his lap and they sat there curled up together talking about nothing much as thoughts occurred to them and just enjoying the peace of knowing they were alone and the lack of pressure to be polite or keep the peace or put up a perfect united front. The runes kept the hot tub at the perfect temperature and the herbal essences Hadrian added were to aid with relaxation not desire but eventually they'd had enough. They climbed out of the tub and showered together washing each other down at first platonically just enjoying caring for each other but after a while their arousal started to take over and they began kissing passionately. Hadrian yelped as Tim pushed him up against the cold tiles.

"Sorry," Tim muttered.

Hadrian wrapped both arms and legs around Tim and Tim moved one hand to support Hadrian's weight while he reached up and angled the warm water onto the tiles to heat them up a bit before he leaned Hadrian back onto them. "Here or bed?" he asked.

"Bed," Hadrian decided. "I want to take our time."

Tim helped Hadrian to stand and dried him off, Hadrian reached for his wand and magically dried off Tim causing him to huff at him and pick him up and throw him onto the bed.

Hadrian chuckled delightedly and moved to lie in the centre of the bed, drawing his legs up exposing himself and conjuring lube he began preparing himself.

Tim stopped and watched almost moaning with desire. "Do you have any idea how amazing you look like that? Knowing no one else will ever see this almost takes my breath away in wonder," he asked.

Hadrian smirked. "Stop watching me. I need you," he said.

Tim immediately crawled onto the bed and over Hadrian kissing him passionately. "I love you," he said breathlessly.

"I love you too," Hadrian said arching his hips up to brush their penises together.

Tim moaned and thrust back for a moment before withdrawing a little and lining himself up with Hadrian's entrance but didn't push in. "I'm going to make you scream," he warned teasingly.

Hadrian grinned.

While technically they could make as much noise as they liked in their room at home. Hadrian had installed a permanent one way silencing ward so they could still hear the children but no sounds could be heard from inside their room when the door was shut, they tended to save their more involved erotic adventures for when they were alone or away from home. Tim said Tony referred to it as hotel room sex. Couples in long term relationships would have fairly vanilla sex at home but in a hotel room where they didn't need to worry about being disturbed or cleaning up after themselves they'd break free and have sex all over the room. Magic took care of the cleanup but other than that Tony's theory tended to hold true. With three children, a nanny and his mother in the house, not to mention the hours Tim worked they'd fallen into a bit of a rut, sex lately had been quick, and quiet, efficiently getting each other off rather than spending time glorying in each other and their relationship. Here on their weekend out of time they had no responsibilities other than to get some rest to prepare themselves to face the world again come Monday and spend time together, and Tim intended to make very sure they both slept well later that night, much later.

They spent an enjoyable day lazing around the house, because they'd only been there for the wedding preparations and the weekend of the wedding itself there weren't a lot of books or other activities to occupy them, not that they noticed the lack but it was something to consider if they did plan on regularly using the house, particularly if they were to bring the children.

They visited the conservatory where they'd exchanged their public wedding vows and Harry cast a cushioning charm where they'd stood that day and drew Tim into a passionate kiss slowly starting to take off his clothes. Tim reciprocated eagerly but started to shiver as his outer layers were removed. Hadrian cast warming charms on the ground and the surrounding air. "I'm not cold," Tim said softly.

"Now you'll be warm enough to take our time," Hadrian replied. He doused the main lights leaving them lit only by the fairy lights threaded through the plants.

Tim rolled onto his back, giving control to Hadrian who kissed and caressed his way down Tim's body.

-o0o-

Heather couldn't help but notice something had changed between Tim and Hadrian since she'd seen them last. They both looked a lot more mellow and amazingly well rested in spite of the busy weekend. Remembering that look on her husband's face from the early days of their marriage she was glad for the thick walls of the old manor house that prevented her from hearing anything from her son's or grandchildren's rooms at night. The two men's good moods were contagious and breakfast proceeded calmly as Tim unhurriedly ate then left for work and Hadrian got Teddy ready for school and the girls for a morning at kindy gym and then a picnic in the park with his new friends. He'd invited Heather to join him but she'd elected to spend some time pampering herself and get her hair and nails done that morning to give Hadrian some time to himself and with his friends.

Gibbs also noticed how well rested McGee looked compared to the happy but tired appearance he'd had at the barbecue the day before but didn't bother to speculate further. Tony on the other hand attributed the relaxed muscles and easy grin that morning not to adequate sleep but to some good loving and had no hesitation in shooting Tim a teasing look.

Tim knew that smart comments would probably follow once they were out of Gibbs hearing. It had taken Tony a while to start teasing Tim about his sex life again after meeting Hadrian and realizing who his probationary agent was having sex with. Not just that Hadrian was a man but that he was the husband not just a boyfriend or boytoy. Tim had actually been relieved when the teasing restarted but now it was just a minor irritation. Thankfully for the peace of the team it wasn't long before they got a new case, the dead petty officer and his missing best mate filled the rest of their day, tension increasing when they found the best mate's body hidden in bushland. He'd obviously predeceased their petty officer leaving them without a prime suspect. They'd no sooner solved the murders, and were still writing up the reports when they got a call out for a missing 14 year old marine dependent. After spending three 20 hour days searching the girl turned up unharmed at a friend's house near their previous posting. It was still a mystery how a 14 year old girl had got herself half way across the country without being seen but the reunion with her family was worth all the hours they'd put in. Gibbs had left the girl his desk phone number with strict instructions to call him and let him know what was going on the next time she felt the need to flee.

Four back to back cases gave Heather a better appreciation for how hard her son worked and why he'd cancelled out on so many family dinners over the years. She was amazed that Hadrian seemed to take his erratic schedule in stride, making sure the children were happy and had the opportunity to talk to Tim if at all possible before bed, and that there was a healthy meal ready for whatever hour of the night he showed up and clean clothes to replace those he'd worn out of his go bag the nights he hadn't got home, never blaming or scolding him for his absence or making him feel guilty for neglecting him or the children.

"He'll make it up to us all as soon as he gets a break. I've seen him dead on his feet and refusing to rest in order to spend time with Teddy and Rosie," Hadrian said. "And I'd be a hypocrite to complain when my work schedule can be even worse at times. At least we've spoken to Tim every day and know he's okay."

"At least with Tim's father I always had plenty of notice when he'd be deployed and an idea of how long he'd been gone," Heather said. "You have to be prepared for Tim to be home anytime."

"He does ring me most evenings and tell me when he's leaving the Navy Yard, so I have a little warning," Hadrian replied smiling, though inwardly he was wondering what Heather thought he might be up to that required Tim to warn him when he was coming home.

Hadrian and Tim both felt guilty that with Heather in the house they could only use the time turner for Tim to get some rest and them both to have a little alone time, not to spend time with the children but Heather wouldn't understand that Tim couldn't be seen, or answer the phone or appear to be in the house at all on his time turned days so they had to limit it to the house in Boston, Hadrian had Tollie pop Daisy to them when she went to put the baby down for her nap. It didn't help much because they couldn't keep her much longer than she normally slept but it did give Tim some time for cuddles and made sure the baby didn't notice that he was a part of her daily life that had gone missing lately but there was nothing they could do about the older children. There was no way of taking either of them to Boston without risking them telling their Grandma Heather about it.

-o0o-

Thanksgiving drew closer and Tim told Hadrian all about the relatives he expected to be there and stories about holiday celebrations and traditions in the past in preparation for his husband meeting his family. Hadrian and Heather could both tell that Tim was nervous about introducing his two families to each other, but there wasn't much they could do to reassure him.

Hadrian eagerly learned what he could about Tim's family, determined that this weekend with them was going to go well, even if he had to resort to casting wandless cheering charms at everyone and spiking the drinks with calming potions. Hopefully it wouldn't be necessary, particularly as Tim would recognize his interference and know his relatives' reactions weren't totally genuine which would hurt him nearly as much as letting them express their anger but would at least protect the children and allow them to enjoy their first holiday with Tim's extended family.

A/N: Thank you to Kourtney Uzu Yato, aisa.32, lilly-flower15, Kim Marie Durette, luramos, Locket1, SpiritBlackPaw, Fallow54, colubrum, HoneyBear84, DarkRavie, starie78, Melikalilly, knuckles 8, Sakihinata, Rori Potter, MargaritaS, MayaHikari, delia cerrano, mooneysfate, buterflypuss, notsofrilly, acherongoddess, Obsesive Reader, Lady Kaiki, Rainbow2007, Gottahavemyncis, xDarklightx, Harriverse, Lientjuhh, sandipi, Firehedgehog, kimbarn30, starhoney, sillygabby, Millie072, julschristine975, charm13insomnia, DS2010, Silvermane1, Ssaki, lia, Corala, rea, little chibi cherub, Criminal Minds Queen, serenityselena, yngoldfogee, LunaDragAngel, Merlenyn, asdf, Serpent91, sanders1800, alya88, Erimenthe, kittyranma, Guest, Beth9891, DragonKnight1775, fandomsneverdie and all those who followed and favourited for your support.


	82. Chapter 82

**Chapter 82**

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or NCIS or any of their characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do **NOT** give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

Tim was nervous as he and Hadrian carried the children up the drive to his Aunt and Uncle's house and knocked on the door. Aunt Jillie had seemed accepting on the phone and he knew that his mother was already there but there were a lot of relatives that Tim hadn't seen in a long time. Would they be angry at him for opting out of the family gatherings for so long? Would they be able to accept the man that he'd become and the new family he'd made? Hadrian had reassured him that he would step in and subtly use magic to stop the children becoming distressed if they weren't welcomed and he knew the elves had a Thanksgiving Dinner with all the trimmings cooked and waiting for them if they did have to go home. The elves would use the time turner to go back and add it to the other food they were taking to one of the homeless shelters in the city if it wasn't needed by the family.

"Tim welcome, it's been too long," his uncle engulfed him in a hug as soon as he opened the door to find his nephew and his family. Thankfully unlike Abby's killer hugs he tempered his strength so the hug wasn't overwhelming or too tight.

Tim relaxed into the hug and returned it joyfully, feeling truly welcomed. "Uncle, I'm glad to be here. This is Hadrian our son, Teddy and our daughters Rosie and Daisy," Tim looked at each girl as he said their names his arms full of squirming toddler who hadn't much liked being caught up in the hug from someone she didn't know. "This is my Uncle Pete."

"Welcome to the family," Pete said warmly, hiding his shock. Until Teddy had stepped out from behind Tim when being introduced he'd wondered whether the small dark haired young man next to Tim had been his partner or his adopted son, he looked to young for one and too old for the other.

Hadrian smiled, "Pleased to meet you sir. Tim's told me quite a bit about the wonderful holidays he spent here as a child."

"I'm glad to hear that. We worried when he stopped coming," Pete admitted.

"Single junior agents get very little say in what holidays they get off, and the two of us working for different agencies only made it worse until we had the children, now as the only parents with young children on either of our teams they do try a little harder to co-ordinate our leave but we still rarely get the big holidays," Hadrian said sounding apologetic.

"And this had nothing to do with the fact that this is the first Thanksgiving in years that his father has been deployed?" Pete asked sarcastically.

Tim grinned shamefaced. "It might have made a bit of a difference to whether we actually came but this is honestly the first Thanksgiving in about eight years that I could possibly have travelled this far from either Norfolk or the Navy Yard in DC," he admitted.

"I would still have encouraged Tim to come but I don't think you'd want the children to see how the Admiral would react if he saw us. And Tim would be reluctant to either expose the children to that or leave us at home without him. Not to mention that he wouldn't want to ruin everyone else's Thanksgiving," Hadrian explained.

"That bad!" Pete asked sympathetically.

"My boss had to threaten to charge him if he didn't leave the bullpen where my desk is, and remind him that hitting a federal agent in front of witnesses could cost him his career last time I saw him. We've updated the security on our house and have tried to make sure he doesn't know where we live," Tim said sadly. "At least Mom's accepted us when he isn't around, but this probably is his last deployment."

"Don't you worry too much about Heather, Timothy. My sister won't willingly be separated from those grandchildren she's been bragging about non stop for the last six weeks," Jillie said joining them.

"Hey Aunt Jillie, this is Hadrian and Daisy, my son Teddy and this wiggle worm is Rosie," Tim said leaning over to kiss his aunt's cheek. She pulled him into a hug.

"It's good to see you Timmy, you're looking so well," Jillie said. "Come on in the warm. Everyone's here. Excuse me I need to get dinner on the table."

"Sure, I'm looking forward to it," Tim said grinning.

They entered the living room and Tim handed Rosie off to Heather who came to greet them, then led Teddy over to the other two children in the room, uncle Pete's nephew's children. Tim wanted to introduce Teddy to them but had to admit he didn't know their names, the oldest had been a baby last time he attended a family party.

"Hi I'm Teddy, can I play?" Teddy asked.

"Do you know how?" the younger girl asked.

"Yeah," Teddy replied sitting down. "What's your name?"

"I', Brittany and I' four," Brittany said.

"I'm Melanie, you can play blue," the older one said.

Tim smiled as the game started and turned to greet the adults, knowing that Teddy was distracted from whatever telling off his father was about to get.

"Well look what crawled out from under a rock now his daddy dearest is away at sea," Amanda said sarcastically.

"Hey Mands," Tim said ignoring her snarky tone and using her childhood nickname to greet her cheerfully."

"You should have had more faith in us Tim. You should have known we'd take your side," Amanda said.

"Yeah, I knew you would, and it would have torn the whole family apart," Tim said quietly.

"If you dare to say you aren't worth standing up for I'm going to slap some sense into you, literally," Amanda said fiercely.

Tim grinned. "It's good to see you too Amanda. Are you going to introduce me to your fiancé?" he asked gesturing to the stranger standing awkwardly beside her.

"Tim this is Sam O'Connell, Sam my cousin Timothy McGee," Amanda introduced.

"Pleased to meet you," Timothy said holding out his hand.

"Pleased to meet you too," Sam replied.

"Your turn," Amanda announced dragging Tim over to where Hadrian was standing still making conversation with Pete.

"Amanda this is my partner Hadrian and our youngest daughter Daisy. Hadrian this is my cousin Amanda and her fiancé Sam," Tim introduced, knowing that Hadrian would recognise both of them from the background check he'd done on Sam for Tim. Luckily it hadn't turned up anything more concerning than the fact he was a Chicago Cubs fan.

"Pleased to meet you," Hadrian said nodding at each of them.

"Oh! She's such a cutie, she looks like you when you were a baby Tim," Amanda gushed.

"You couldn't possibly remember that," Tim refuted disbelievingly. "You're not that much older than me."

"Well no but we do have photos of you as a baby. Perhaps Hadrian would like to look at them after dinner," Amanda offered.

"I would," Hadrian agreed smirking at Tim who just rolled his eyes.

"Is she asleep? I'll bring the pram in so you can lay her down while we eat," Tim offered retreating. Hadrian laughed.

"Seriously, she looks like Tim as a baby, but she looks like you too, so does your other little girl, you must have had amazing luck with your surrogates," Amanda said.

"We did, with the egg donor and the surrogate," Hadrian agreed.

"So how do you cope with Tim's working hours, I can't count the number of times we tried to catch up when he first moved to DC and he didn't even had the time to Skype," Amanda said frowning.

"You do get used to it. When they're in the middle of a case he barely has time to eat and sleep," Hadrian agreed, "and when it involves a kidnapping or an injured child his boss can have him working 20 hours a day until I'm worried they're all going to collapse."

"So he wasn't just avoiding me," Amanda said sadly.

"Of course he wasn't," Hadrian said. "Why did you think he might be avoiding you?"

"He never could get away for the weekend and when we did make plans to meet in DC he called to cancel at the last minute, blaming his job, said a case came up. I thought he was avoiding me deliberately and stopped calling him," Amanda confessed feeling guilty.

"I'm sure he'd understand, he was looking forward to catching up with you," Hadrian said kindly.

"He hasn't responded to my invitation to the wedding, do you know why?" Amanda said.

"I know that he's already applied for the time off to attend. He just wanted to wait til he could reply in person. He told me that he wanted you to understand that the fact he was attending on his own didn't mean he was single so you wouldn't try to set him up with someone," Hadrian said.

"You'd be welcome to come with him," Sam said.

"Not if the Admiral's going to be there, Tim and I wouldn't want to cause a scene, it isn't fair to you," Hadrian said. "In fact, Tim's presence alone might be enough to upset the Admiral. Tim would understand if you don't want to risk it. That's why he wanted to talk to you in person, make sure you understood the whole situation."

"Is it always going to be like that. You're going to make the family choose between inviting you and inviting the Admiral?" Amanda said disapprovingly.

"I'm sorry but I'm afraid it has to be," Hadrian said. "I won't risk exposing our children to bigotry like the Admiral was shouting at Tim when he found out about me and with his history of violence when it came to Tim in the past does give us some cause for concern."

Amanda laid her hand on Hadrian's arm. "I'm glad you know about that. Please understand that Mom and Dad wanted to do something about it. It was Tim that begged them not to, he said their interference would make everything worse," she said dubiously.

"Yes, and I'm afraid from what Tim has told me, he was right. The Admirals treatment of him was only just short of what the authorities could intervene and remove Tim without a lengthy investigation and the Admiral would not have reacted well," Hadrian explained. "Such investigations take months and it would be easy for someone with as much power as the admiral to quietly arrange for the bullying at school to be escalated to the point that it would explain any previous injuries so that CPS would drop the investigation or arrange for an accident to occur. They're so overworked that the investigation would be dropped if there was no longer a child at risk."

Amanda looked at him horrified. "You can't believe him capable of that!" she exclaimed.

"Then tell me, if Tim doesn't believe him capable of that, why we upgraded our alarm system and installed security cameras to cover all of our garden and anonymously donated the money for the same thing to be done at Teddy's school? The only thing that would make us more secure than we are now would be an armed guard outside the door," Hadrian countered.

Amanda swallowed back the retort she was about to make, shaken as she realized how much money they would have to have spent upgrading theirs and their children's security and by default exactly how much of a threat they truly believed the Admiral was.

Hadrian turned towards the entry way where Tim was setting up the pram and laid Daisy down.

"Everything okay?" Tim asked quietly.

"Yeah, everyone seems pleased you're here, if they are upset about anything it's that you haven't come for so long," Hadrian said. "Will she be warm enough here in the entry way?"

"No, we couldn't hear her from here either, we're eating out in the barn, it should be warm they'll have both the fires going in this weather, we'll take her out with us," Tim said. They headed out to the barn ahead of the call for everyone to come to the table and parked Daisy out of the way a reasonable distance from the wood heater. The table had been set with place cards and Tim was pleased to see he and Hadrian had been seated together with the children, a highchair already in place for Rosie.

"Will the noise disturb the baby?" Jillie asked.

"No she's more than used to a racket," Tim said laughing, knowing that there was a muffling charm he activated when he put the hood up.

"So you haven't really been working every Thanksgiving?" Amanda accused.

"Actually, this is the second Thanksgiving I've had off since joining the team, we are supposed to get one Thanksgiving in three off rotation, but that doesn't make any difference when we're already working a case, we were in the middle of an urgent case last time, and Hadrian didn't celebrate Thanksgiving so until we got custody of Teddy and had Rosie, he was always the one in his department voluntold to work Thanksgiving," Tim replied.

"Voluntold?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, you know when your boss asks for volunteers and then stares at you to make it clear that you'll be the one asked if nobody else puts their hand up and it will be very much in your best interest if you volunteer before he has to delegate," Hadrian explained, chuckling ruefully.

Sam chuckled too, "Yeah I know that glare far too well, I just hadn't heard it called that before. That's a good one. What do you do?"

"I've been seconded long term to the FBI as a specialist consultant in one of their counter terrorism units, but I also pick up shifts TADing wherever they need me, which is what usually happened on public Holidays." Hadrian replied.

"So do you only get one in three Christmases off too, Tim?" Amanda asked.

"That's the deal, I got George Washington's Birthday, Labor Day and Thanksgiving this year, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Independence day and Veterans Day next year and Memorial Day, Columbus Day, and the week of Christmas and New Years the year after, if I stay on the same team."

"And what about you Hadrian, do you get public holidays off?"

"My boss is pretty good at giving me the same holidays as Tim whenever possible, but it's not always, and he prefers to try to have me work the very American public holidays since I'm not an American citizen," Hadrian said diplomatically.

"Are your hours as dreadful as Tim's? Last time we stayed in DC he called in to see us on his way home from work at eleven o'clock at night and he still couldn't stay long because he was due back in at six thirty," Jillie complained.

"Depending on the case, they can be better or worse, usually better thank goodness. Most of the time I'm home before five when I'm in DC but I can also be sent anywhere in the world and might be totally out of contact for a month or two, sometimes with barely enough notice to grab my bags from the car and call and say goodbye to Tim and the kids," Hadrian replied. "Places that only a satellite phone would work."

"I haven't seen you go to work at all while I've been staying with you," Heather commented.

"I'm on leave at the moment until Daisy is at least six months old," Hadrian replied.

"That's an unusually long paternity leave,"

"Perhaps here it is, but while I'm seconded to the FBI my primary employer remains the British government so as Daisy's primary caregiver I'm entitled to the up to 52 weeks paternity leave as per my contract with them, and with my job as it is I decided to take it," Hadrian replied. "When Daisy is six months old I'll have to decide whether to take the next six months off."

"Have you had any thoughts about getting married when it becomes legal?" Sam asked.

"Oh, um…" Hadrian stuttered, not sure what to tell Tim's family.

"We already are married," Tim came to his rescue. "We married in Massachusetts. It wasn't legally recognized in Virginia until recently and without Mom and the Admiral able to attend and Hadrian not having any family, we kept it very small and private."

"How long have you been married?" Amanda asked.

"Two and a half years," Tim admitted.

"Without telling any of us?" Amanda screeched.

"I've just been disowned and had to have my boss stop the Admiral from assaulting me because Sarah told her Daddy that I married a man. Don't complain to me about being too distrusting," Tim said bluntly.

"Why would you do that? Were you trying to get the Admiral to hurt Tim?" Amanda asked Sarah, shocked.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to cause trouble. I thought it would be okay, that Tim would see that he was wrong about being afraid to tell Daddy," Sarah said miserably.

"She believed that the father she knew would be okay with it and that I was overexaggerating his probable reaction," Tim replied. "She thought that he'd get over it soon enough and then I could stop avoiding him and we could be a family again the way she's always wanted us to be."

"How could she be so…" Amanda couldn't finish the sentence, she didn't want to get Tim's back up by insulting his little sister.

"Remember I left for college before she turned five. She really didn't see me and the Admiral together for more than a few hours at a time every two or three months after that," Tim reminded her. "She doesn't remember what it was like before then, she was too young. The Admiral never treated Sarah the way that he'd treated me, she wasn't expected to grow up to join the navy so she had a lot more freedom to be herself. I never told her that the father she loved wasn't who she believed he was because she loved him and I didn't want to hurt her. So if she's a little too naïve when it comes to the Admiral that's partially my fault."

"I'm sorry Tim, I understand you wanted to protect your baby sister," Amanda said contritely.

"I'm sorry too Tim. I should have believed you," Sarah apologized again.

"Why'd you think Amanda would set you up at the wedding?" Sam asked, partly out of curiosity of what Tim had said earlier and partly to lighten the subject.

"She has set me up with someone nearly every time I've seen her in the last ten years. It's usually a total disaster," Tim replied groaning at the memories.

The family laughed reminiscently at some of the horror stories Tim had told about those dates.

"We'll I might have been more successful if you'd told me you didn't like girls," Amanda defended herself.

"Given your previous taste in boyfriends, I doubt it," Tim retorted. "Sam is a delightful change there."

The family cheered and laughed again and Amanda tried to look offended by their wholehearted agreement.

"I could always not invite the Admiral and then Hadrian and the kids could come," Amanda suggested.

"He's your Uncle and if you invite Mom and not the Admiral, she won't be able to come without him," Tim replied. "He'd likely turn up and create trouble if you did that, besides I doubt he'd be the only one there that would object to our relationship and our family. I'll come on my own."

"It isn't fair," Amanda said.

"Bigotry never is," Tim said bluntly. "I knew what I was giving up in choosing to be with Hadrian and I don't regret it for a moment."

-o0o-

Tim put Rosie down in Amanda's old room to nap after lunch and Teddy was well occupied by the two girls so they spent a lazy afternoon, partly watching the football and partly talking.

Amanda laughed as, Pete, Sam and Tim tried to explain football to Hadrian.

"Do you follow a team?" Sam asked.

"I'm a West Ham fan," Hadrian replied, remembering the dorm mate who'd got him interest in football.

"West where?" Sam asked. "What do they play?"

"West Ham United. They're a football team in Stratford, East London," Hadrian explained.

"You mean soccer?" Sam asked.

"Real football," Hadrian corrected.

"If Brits call soccer football, what do they call football?" Jillie asked.

"Ridiculous," Hadrian replied, winking at Jillie who laughed with Tim as the other men protested.

"Gridiron" Tim told his aunt.

"How long have you lived in America?" Pete asked amused.

"Nearly six years now," Hadrian replied. "But I've never been in the habit of watching television, particularly in the day time."

"And how long have you known Tim?" Amanda asked.

"Nearly six years, we met on the plane on my way over here the first time," Hadrian said smiling at his husband.

"And he picked you up then and there? That doesn't sound like Tim. How much free champagne did you drink cousin?" Amanda said.

"We weren't drinking at all, not even a decent cup of tea," Hadrian replied making them all laugh. "We talked all the way from London to New York, and while we had dinner together during the three hour layover and then from New York to DC, then he invited me home to stay with him until I could get my own place."

"God, five years ago you must have looked about twelve," Sam said unthinkingly.

Hadrian blushed.

"He actually looked older than he does now," Tim said, more amused than offended.

"How is that possible?" Amanda asked.

"I looked like the war veteran I was back then, fresh from the war and still suffering PTSD I could have passed for a forty year old the way I felt," Hadrian said. "Life's been a lot easier since then and I'm healthy and well rested. It makes more difference than people think."

"We'll you didn't look forty but. You looked older than your age and now you look a lot younger than you are," Tim replied.

"Living with you is good for me," Hadrian said teasingly, taking his hand. "I'm going to live forever and never grow old, so long as you're with me."

Tim laughed and leaned across and kissed his cheek.

"Living with Tim is obviously better for you than living with you is for Tim. He isn't ageing backwards like Benjamin Button " Amanda commented. "Eventually you'll look young enough to be his son.

Tim winced, and Hadrian put his hand on his thigh and squeezed reassuringly.

"I'm not deaging, I've looked this old since before we got married," Hadrian protested.

"I bet you still get carded in pubs," Sam said laughing.

"Yeah, even in Britain where the age limit's eighteen he gets carded," Tim laughed.

"You got carded too, last time we went out," Hadrian retorted.

"Enough dancing around the subject, how old are you Hadrian?" Jillie asked.

"I'm twenty six," Hadrian said. "But Tim isn't joking that he thought I was at least twenty four when we met six years ago."

"Then what on earth did you see in an old man like Tim?" Amanda asked, seeing the discussion was making Tim uneasy.

"That's easy, he was handsome, intelligent, calm and self-assured and didn't want to be out clubbing and getting drunk every night like a lot of people my age, and I could talk to him. We just seemed to understand each other on a deeper level than anyone I'd met before. Even my best friends from school didn't get me the way Tim does and we'd fought a war together," Hadrian explained seriously before winking at Tim and adding, "Plus I thought he was unbelievably hot."

Tim blushed furiously as Amanda laughed. She stilled realizing from the look Hadrian was giving her cousin that he was being serious. Nobody had ever described Tim as hot in her hearing before, even her friend with a crush had gone on about how sweet and cute he was not mentioning that she found him sexy. But since he'd lost weight he did look attractive.

"Have you ever dated a girl?" Jillie asked.

"A couple, but it always tended to all fall apart and start to seem like a bad idea as soon as I thought about taking her clothes off," Hadrian said bluntly, not wanting to go into the debacle of his previous engagement.

Tim laughed, more at the shocked look on his aunt's face than what his husband had said. Thanks in part to the attitudes of the Admiral and his British friends, Hadrian had developed a take no prisoners attitude to those that questioned his sexuality or his relationship with Tim, and his Aunt had been extremely rude questioning Hadrian like that, Hadrian was married to Tim his past relationships were none of his family's business.

"Do you like living in America?" Pete asked loudly.

"I do. I love DC and the people, and what I've seen of the rest of the country, it all seems so much less rigid than Britain, or my part of Britain anyway," Hadrian said. "If you're concerned about Tim and I running off to live in England don't be. I doubt very much whether I'll ever want to live there again though I do have business interests there that I need to visit a couple of times a year."

"You're in law enforcement, what kind of business could you have that lets you pretty much ignore it most of the time and work full time overseas as you choose?" Sam asked.

"A very well run business, managed by people I trust, whose honesty and honour are without question," Hadrian said referring to the goblins. "The Potter trust has been managed without close supervision from the family since my grandfather's time and has increased in value every year. My Guardian was a little too invested in protecting me from the responsibilities of my estate and by the time he thought I was old enough to be allowed to learn how to run the family business I was already attending the academy."

"That's not a good idea. Managers who are left to their own devices for too long tend to start to forget the business doesn't belong to them. Even honest men can be tempted," Pete said.

"There are several checks and balances and I make all the major decisions and I am there often enough," Hadrian said. "I'm not being embezzled from if that's what you're worried about. We did have a minor problem along that line a year or so ago but the managers alerted me to the problem and the perpetrators are in prison. Tim helped me do a complete forensic accounting of the company and there were no other problems."

"Did the global financial crises cause you much trouble?" Sam asked. "If you don't mind me asking."

"No, my company didn't owe any money so none of our properties were forclosed upon, and the company is only minimally dependent on suppliers who might have been affected because we try to use small local businesses wherever possible, most of my income comes from medium and low priced housing rental so it wasn't greatly affected, people need housing whether they're working or not. In fact, I was able to make some very good long term investments buying up foreclosures, so even though I did offer some reduction in rents to my long term tenants who lost their jobs in the crisis, in the long term I will definitely benefit from the crash," Hadrian said modestly. In fact, he'd increased his holdings significantly, buying up as many properties as he could, as the banks foreclosed on mortgages and sold out the housing for a fraction of their true value as they attempted to recoup their losses and keep their banks solvent. Due to the crises the government had removed the restrictions they'd tried to place on him buying more land, just grateful that his purchases were propping up the British banking system. In many cases Hadrian was able to rent the properties back to their former owners or keep the current tenants without them becoming aware of the building being taken over by the banks.

"What exactly does your business do," Jillie asked curiously.

"Property management," Hadrian replied. "I buy mostly rundown housing and refurbish it to rent out. I don't need the money so a lot of the profits go back into maintaining the houses and their neighbourhoods and buying new properties. My rents are fair and I have a reputation for providing secure affordable housing for peaceful law abiding citizens regardless of religion or race. Most of my estates have waiting lists so I can afford to pick and choose the right tenants to fit in the neighbourhood."

"How'd your family get into rental properties?" Sam asked.

"My family was originally granted land outside the small town of Londinium in return for service to the crown back in the dark ages sometime. The family was large back then and by making sure relatives cleverly supported both sides of every conflict, managed to hold onto their land no matter which would be king won the battle, and then as the great estates broke up in the financial crises of their day, instead of selling off the land, my ancestors built factories and housing and rented it out. They got lucky not to lose any buildings in the fire of London and then took advantage of the tragedy to increase their holdings, as they had from the great plague just before the fire. Not exactly ethical perhaps but I'll admit the company did it again during the global financial crises so I'd be a hypocrite to criticise." In fact, those in the know had speculated that the fire retardant charms on the whole neighbourhood of Potter properties were what had stopped the fire from spreading further and the entire city being lost, just as the pest repellant charms on them had slowed the spread of the plague. It had been something of a myth at the time that certain neighbourhoods remained almost plague free while streets just blocks away were decimated. After the fire it was speculated that the good fortune was supernatural in origin but tenants all wanted to live in a Potter property and once they did the wards encouraged them to dismiss the conspiracy theory that the Potters were practicing evil magic, so nobody was interested in prosecuting the Potters for witchcraft.

"It must be difficult to have a family like that to live up to," Amanda commented.

"No, it isn't really. Sure, I want to be successful enough that when my descendants read our family history I don't stand out as the screw up or the end of the successful family, but stories of our family history is all I ever had of them. I am the last living Potter-Black. I'd like to think my parents would be proud of the man I've become but there is no way to know either way so I don't lose any sleep over it. It's harder for Tim who had to live with the consequences of trying to live up to his father's unrealistic expectations his whole life," Hadrian said. "Besides everyone has a family history, my family were just better at keeping the records of it." Helped greatly by preservation charms on the family journals and stasis charms on the trunks where they'd been stored, maintained by the wards on his Gringotts vault.

"Land gifts like that are usually accompanied by titles," Amanda said.

"And most of those titles are then declared defunct when the monarchy changes hands violently, my family were enobled several times throughout history," Hadrian replied misleadingly.

"Still there's got to be some glory in being able to claim a history like that," Amanda said.

"I firmly believe that the measure of a man is in his beliefs, actions and achievements, not whatever his 20 times great grandfather might have been or done," Hadrian replied. "I became a federal agent because prosecuting terrorists was something I passionately believed in and the best use of my skills, not because my father had been in law enforcement."

"Was he?" Sam asked curiously.

"He was a soldier and friends told me that he planned to become a federal agent when he finished his military service, but my parents were both only twenty one when they were murdered, who knows what they might eventually have done with their lives," Hadrian replied.

A/N: Thank you to SpiritBlackPaw, charm13insomnia, -Line, caged21hearts, Firehedgehog, DarkRavie, Kourtney Uzu Yato, fandomsneverdie, Heather a squib, Rainbow2007, lilly-flower15, hufflepuffsfavoritedeatheater, acherongoddess, buterflypuss, Rori Potter, Criminal Minds Queen, luramos, Corala, lia, starie78, sillygabby, Silvermane1, Miriam1 **,** delia cerrano, knuckles 8, DS2010, aisa.32, madnessdownunder2, Guest, serenityselena, Rebecca, Mmmm, Melikalilly, Harriverse, Lady Kaiki, Fallow55, HoneyBear84, shadowwolf2345, asdf, Merlenyn, OverlordSnuggie, 16, Erimenthe, rmiser1994, The View From Up Here, Enishi-Haru, , mooneysfate, Beth9891 and all those who followed and favourited for your support.


	83. Chapter 83

**Chapter 83**

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or NCIS or any of their characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do **NOT** give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

"What I don't understand is, why you still have a nanny? You're on leave for up to a whole year, Hadrian, and Heather's been staying with you to help for the last few months. It just seems unnecessary," Jillie said. Heather had complained to her that Barbara had accompanied her every time she'd taken the children out anywhere as well as on the few occasions that Hadrian and Tim had both been out of the house, and it just didn't make sense to Jillie. Both young men were warm and friendly with Heather, there was no sign that they mistrusted her in any way.

Heather pricked up her ears, she'd wondered about this too and was a little insulted that both the boys seemed to trust the nanny far more than they trusted her with the children, but she hadn't felt comfortable questioning them about it. She didn't want Tim to think she was criticizing his parenting or his husband. Tim and Hadrian both talked about wanting to be hands on fathers and they did both spend a lot of time with the children both playing and doing the work of caring for a child and Heather thought yet they still had hired help whether they needed it or not.

"You're right, it isn't actually necessary to have an extra babysitter at the moment, but there are several other reasons we kept her on. The first is that the children love Barbara, she's part of our family and she provides emotional as well as physical security for them. Tim and I are both occasionally away with work for extended periods and as much as I wish things were different, it's Barbara that has been the true constant presence in their lives for the last few years. To have her suddenly disappear would hurt them. And if they associated her disappearance with Daisy's birth and my maternity leave they could come to resent their sister. Secondly you have no idea of how difficult and stressful it was to find a nanny that has all the skills, temperament and qualifications we wanted and at the same time the security clearance we needed, not to mention one who was willing to deal with our nontraditional family and unpredictable hours on top of that. Thirdly, while I am on maternity leave from my regular job I have no doubt if a real crisis occurred in my area of expertise I will be pulled in at very short notice to help deal with it, and I don't want to have to mess around looking for someone to look after the kids while people are dying whose deaths I might have helped to prevent if I could only have got there sooner," Hadrian explained.

"Barbara has cut her hours back to our previously agreed minimum, and the cost isn't too exorbitant for the peace of mind of knowing the children are so well looked after, by someone they like," Tim added. "It's been great having Mom stay with us and spend time with the children but she can't stay forever and when she goes back to look after the Admiral and Hadrian goes back to work we are going to need Barbara."

"I understand," Heather said nodding. Barbara had done her best to be unobtrusive when Heather was with the children, going as far as busying herself with the cleaning and tidying while the children played with their grandmother in the house.

"What is your area of expertise?" Sam asked curiously.

"British domestic terrorism, particularly a relatively small but powerful terrorist group that started in England in the late 1960's, that keeps a much quieter profile than most. They're privately funded and their backers are wealthy enough not to need the publicity to drum up support. While in their heyday they did take credit for most of their actions they don't always these days. They're a mostly underground group far more secretive than the IRA and every time we've cut of the head and think we've finished them, they start to pop up somewhere else. The one positive thing is that unlike a lot of the European terrorist groups they have absolutely no interest in working with the middle east," Hadrian said.

"That's tough, is there a secret leader hidden in the background running things?" Sam asked a little too enthusiastically.

"No, we know for sure who the original leader was and I killed him personally. There is no possible doubt that he is dead, and he was too much of a megalomaniac to take orders from anyone else. Most of the followers he had with him at the time were either killed in the battle or imprisoned and extensively interrogated, and the group fell apart the way we would expect it to do without a clear line of command. The problem is that we never found a comprehensive list of all his followers and several of them have gathered together to try to resurrect their cause," Hadrian said bluntly.

"How dangerous are these men?" Heather asked. "Are my family safe?"

"They aren't capable of producing another 9/11. On their own most of them are only a minor threat but if they manage to reform their organization they could cause nearly as many incidents in a couple of weeks as the IRA does in a bad year which would cause widespread panic, but most of their power base is in England and Europe," Hadrian replied. "So far they have been hindered by the fact they can't agree on a new leader so when too many of them get together they start fighting amongst themselves but eventually someone will have the power to unite them."

"How much danger are my family in?" Heather demanded.

"My family is as safe as I can make them," Hadrian replied. "The Admiral isn't the only reason for the level of surveillance and security around the house and the security was one of the reasons we chose the house we did. It is very well protected in ways you can't see as well as the security you can. That's also one of the reasons we kept Barbara and that she accompanies you every time you take the children out, she is combat trained, armed and dedicated to protecting the children's lives above all else."

Heather looked disconcerted. "Don't you think that I should have been told of the risks?" she demanded.

"You knew that your son and I are both federal agents. Tim is on the top team at NCIS headquarters, he's dealt with more than his share of terrorists too. He's lost teammates and colleagues to terrorist attacks and risks his life to keep this country safe on a regular basis. Why would you need to be told that there are security protocols, necessary to keep us safe? Or that some of those precautions were due to my job as well as Tim's. You're married to an admiral for goodness sake, surely you're aware of the risks?" Hadrian said pointedly.

"And in spite of the ever present risks involved in our jobs, the biggest actual threat to my health and well being in the last six months has been the Admiral," Tim added fiercely. "If only because he had the clearance to walk right through the Navy Yard into the NCIS building without an escort and assault me at my desk."

"You can't mean that!" Heather protested, horrified.

"He did and if Gibbs and Tony hadn't reacted so quickly I would've been seriously beat up. He's probably not on the top ten list of current threats to actually kill me but he definitely needs to be considered for the list of people that would definitely seriously hurt me if they met me alone in a dark alley and thought they could get away with it, if Hadrian was with me he would probably be in even more danger than I am and I'm not sure how he'd react to finding out about the children. Hopefully Gibbs, Tony and the Director have done enough to convince him that he would not get away with it. If anything happens to me he will be a suspect and the investigation will not be good for his career even if he can eventually prove he had nothing to do with it," Tim told his mother bluntly. "So it is extremely important, not only for my sake and the safety of Hadrian and the children but also for the Admiral's sake and yours and Sarah's that he does not find out where we live."

"We shouldn't be airing all this in public," Heather protested, embarrassed.

Tim looked at her in astonishment, did she really believe he could have his Aunt and Uncle back in his life without them knowing what was going on when he knew they were also still in contact with the Admiral.

"It can't be kept secret. Your family need to know how serious it is that they know not to pass our contact details on to the Admiral before we can even consider giving them our address or inviting them to our home. It will create confusion and resentment if we refuse to tell them where we live without giving them an adequate reason," Hadrian said quietly.

"But your children can't live in a prison of protection," Jillie protested.

"They don't live in a prison, they have as much freedom as we can give them without compromising their safety. Their school is aware of the security risks and well protected, all their friends' parents are checked out before they go there to play or the parents enter our home but we haven't had to veto any visits yet, and the children's friends aren't aware of the background checks. The protection isn't burdensome on them, at the moment they're not even aware of it, though it will become more difficult when they get old enough to want to go places on their own," Timothy said calmly.

"It's better than the protection I lived under after my parents were murdered by this terrorist leader, less intrusive and more effective," Hadrian replied. "And it's better that they are protected than have to recover from the terror of being kidnapped and/or injured to get to me."

That silenced all of them, the reminder that Hadrian had lived with this threat all of his life and the fact that he'd already lost one family to these terrorists, and was still committed to fighting to make the world safer from them in spite of the personal cost.

-o0o-

Jillie wanted Tim and Hadrian and the children to stay with them for the rest of the weekend but Hadrian and Tim had worried that they wouldn't have the space or the privacy so had booked into a motel. Teddy was excited about staying there, they had an indoor pool and he'd already met a couple of other children his age when they'd checked in and dropped off their bags.

"It's his first time staying in a motel, and he's eager to try their pool," Hadrian had explained when Teddy had come up and asked if it was time to go yet.

"You've never been on holiday?" Jillie asked shocked.

"We've never stayed in a motel with the children," Hadrian corrected. "I have an apartment in London, and we've also stayed with my godbrother and his family in England and we have a holiday home. Inherited from another branch of ancestors. But the heated indoor pool with waterslides is the big attraction today, he doesn't mean to be rude."

"That's quite all right, there isn't much for a boy his age to do here at this time of year," Pete said.

"Will we see you again for dinner, or brunch tomorrow?"

Hadrian looked at Tim.

"Brunch I think, we're going to go swim and then some people are going to need an early night," Tim decided.

"We'll see you around nine thirty then if that isn't too early," Jillie said enthusiastically.

"Not at all," Tim said laughing.

-o0o-

"Today went well?" Hadrian said as the two tired father's got ready for bed. They'd had a busy afternoon in the pool with the children and then dined on room service before bathing each child and getting them into bed.

"Better than I expected, though they gave you quite the third degree," Tim said, glad that his husband didn't seem too upset by it.

"Think of it from their point of view. Their beloved nephew turns up after at least five years of avoiding all their family get togethers, and not only comes out as bisexual but brings with him a husband they've never met and three children they hadn't known about. Of course, they wanted to know all about me and what sort of influence I have on you. I think I got off fairly lightly. Imagine what we'd do if it were Teddy or Sarah," Hadrian said reasonably.

Tim laughed. "I'm beginning to be glad they didn't have access to truth serums and thumbscrews."

'Or the ability to transfigure us into a tree,' he thought, his laughter dying.

Hadrian looked at him, watching somberly as his husband realized thumb tacks and veritaserum weren't the worst a wizard could do.

"They wouldn't have even if they could. They want you to want to come back," Hadrian said gently.

"That doesn't mean they aren't going to spend the evening talking about us and coming up with another list of questions for you," Tim replied.

"Let them," Hadrian said.

"You didn't find their questions too intrusive?" Tim asked hesitantly.

"Tim from what they said, Pete and Jillie have worried about you most of your life. And you suddenly turned up after all this time and have been disowned by your father because of me. They need to know that you're genuinely happy and being treated well and I'm not taking advantage of you somehow," Hadrian said. "I'm not going to take offence because they love you. And they don't have the resources to do a background check on me like I did for you on Sam."

"Thank you," Tim said hugging him tightly.

"I liked Amanda and Sam," Hadrian said.

"I liked Sam too. He's good for her," Tim agreed.

"Should we offer them the beach house for their honeymoon? The wiring will be done by then, and the elves know how to hide themselves from guests," Hadrian asked. "We could easily put in an electric hotplate and washing machine, and your coffee machine of course. Or the flat in London if they'd prefer. It's totally nonmagical."

"That's a great idea. We can go ourselves later in the summer. It's a very generous gift," Tim said.

"But it also won't cost us much unless we offer to pay their flights as well," Hadrian said. "Should we? Or do you think they'll be offended."

"I'll ask if they've already made plans and bookings. I got the feeling that the size of the wedding is a lot bigger than Amanda actually wanted. As her only daughter Jillie insisted on all the trimmings," Tim said. "She seemed a little jealous when we described our wedding."

Hadrian smiled reminiscently. "It was exactly everything we wanted except for having your Mom there."

-o0o-

Nine thirty next morning might have been early for the other adults who were still milling around the kitchen in pyjamas and robes enjoying their first cups of coffee for the day but Tim and Hadrian had been up for hours, eaten a light early morning breakfast, played in the pool for an hour before Hadrian returned to the room and bathed and dressed the children and took them to the park to play while Tim went for a run then quickly showered and dressed before picking them up to head to his Aunt and Uncle's.

"Hello sleepyheads," Tim greeted cheerfully.

"You didn't used to be such a morning person," Amanda grumbled.

"Three kids and a career in law enforcement will do that to anyone, waking at dawn is starting to feel like a sleep in at this time of year," Tim replied.

"How long have you been up? We could have made this earlier," Jillie said.

"No the timing is good, we had a snack when we got up before we went swimming and then to the park, Daisy is about ready to go down for a nap and the kids will be hungry again soon," Hadrian said reassuringly.

Jillie and Heather began taking food out of the oven, and soon an extravagant breakfast was laid out for everyone to help themselves.

Hadrian dished up a pancake and sausage and cut it up for Rosie while Tim helped Teddy choose what he wanted, which was mostly meat.

"He doesn't like pancakes?" Jillie asked surprised.

"He does when there's no bacon or sausage to choose instead. He's a real little carnivore," Tim said smiling at the little boy.

"This is really good," Hadrian said, helping himself to a little more frittata.

"That's quite a compliment from you, Heather says that you're a wonderful cook," Jillie said.

"I enjoy cooking," Hadrian said with a smile.

"How can you eat so much and still have lost weight?" Amanda asked incredulously as Tim piled his plate high for the second time.

"I spent an hour in the pool and ran six miles this morning while you were still sleeping," Tim said defensively.

"Do you run too Hadrian?" Pete asked.

"I run with Tim sometimes but not so often in the winter but I prefer to play basketball with friends and run after the kids than pound the pavement," Hadrian replied. He'd returned to training with his local quidditch team though he had to use the time turner to make it to the games, and the ongoing dueling training he taught when not on leave gave him more than enough exercise.

"Are you going to put Teddy into sports this summer?" Sam asked.

"He wants to play soccer next winter but he's still deciding what he'd like to do in the summer," Tim said. Hadrian had talked about letting him join the junior pre-quidditch team where the brooms were limited to between one and two meters off the ground and there were five chasers and a keeper on each team with no seeker or beaters, but they couldn't tell Tim's family that.

The conversation came around to the upcoming Black Friday sales. Heather laughed when both young men shuddered.

"I would have thought that with three kids you'd be keen to get the best Christmas toy bargains," Amanda said teasingly.

"I will probably hit up the on-line sales on Friday," Tim said. "There's no reason to risk permanent injury for a few bargains."

"And what about you Hadrian, will you brave the madness?" Jillie asked.

"Heck no, Tim does most of the Christmas shopping on line, the dinner is my contribution and I'll head to the markets for fresh produce," Hadrian exclaimed. He didn't tell them that the majority of the Christmas shopping was already completed in case they were both called in on a case and didn't get the opportunity later.

"What are your honeymoon plans?" Tim asked Sam.

"Somewhere warm, with a beach, preferably somewhere quiet," Sam said. "Nothing too fancy, but not camping or caravanning either."

"We haven't made a final booking. The wedding has eaten up more of our overall budget than we expected," Amanda admitted softly, glancing at her mother to make sure she wasn't listening to them.

"Well if you're happy with basic, rustic and isolated we could lend you the holiday house. The wiring should be completed by then. There's a service that will clean through before you arrive and after you leave and stock up the kitchen for you, but you'll be on your own in terms of cooking and laundry. It's over an hours' hard walking to the village, or twenty minute by powerboat so you'd need to get your boat license before you go. We'll stock up the place so you shouldn't need to go into town at all if you don't want. There's a private sheltered beach just outside and the surf beach is also about an hours' walk."

"How private is the beach?" Amanda asked.

"Totally, we've never seen anyone except our guests there, and it isn't overlooked except for our house. There's no phone or internet coverage or television and only about half the house is livable but it will be enough for the two of you," Hadrian said grinning.

"You're having it rewired?" Sam asked, "What else needs to be done?"

"We're installing solar panels and a back-up diesel generator and having it wired for the first time. The house has been empty for years and the previous owner was not one for modernizing. It's too isolated to make conventional wiring affordable and running it through the bush would be a huge fire risk, so they kept the old kerosene lanterns and woodfired stove to cook and heat water. The bathroom looks ancient but it is fully functional though it isn't luxurious, and there's no air-conditioning though the house is well insulated and stays fairly comfortable. The house itself is sound so the rest of it is just replacing the rotten furniture, carpets and curtains. We had Hadrian's godbrother and his family stay last summer so there is a guest room furnished if you aren't comfortable using ours."

"Godbrother?" Amanda asked confused.

"His mother was my godmother and my mum was his. Both of us lost our parents very young and should have grown up together if it wasn't for an old man's manipulative meddling. Without much other decent family we've become close," Hadrian explained. "Tim and I are godparents to their second child."

"But they aren't godparents to yours?" Sam asked.

"No, we would have liked him to be but we've decided that we don't want the children brought up in England so their godparents are friends we have made here. Neville understood," Hadrian explained.

"Not the family," Amanda said.

"Not Heather because of the Admiral, and Sarah isn't ready for the responsibility. She honestly doesn't want to be given custody either. And we couldn't ask her to cut herself off from her father like that," Tim said.

"Her father?" Amanda asked surprised.

"I have no doubt that he is biologically my father much as he may wish he could deny it, but he's disowned me. A real father doesn't do that," Tim replied.

Amanda nodded soberly. "He's never treated you like a son," she said.

"I think he did until I was three or four," Tim said. "The family snapshots up until then don't show any signs that I was traumatized or afraid of him."

"Did something happen to him then?" Hadrian asked.

"I don't know, I never thought to question it. I guess I could ask permission to access his service record for that time but I'd need to explain why," Tim said thoughtfully.

"You could try asking your Mom. She might know if it was something big enough to be in his record. Or at least she could tell you which boat he was on at the time, but it might have been something quite small that had a personal impact, a conversation or even something he overheard or misheard. You might never know," Hadrian suggested.

Tim sighed. "I don't suppose it really makes much difference now anyway, even if I knew why what he's done makes me want to keep the kids as far away from him as possible," he admitted. 

Amanda and Sam approached Tim as they were preparing to depart which with three small children took a surprising amount of organization even though they'd only been there several hours.

"Um if you were serious about the offer we would like to use your holiday house for our honeymoon," Amanda said awkwardly.

"I was, I'll bring the keys to the wedding for you."

"Um you haven't said where it is?" Sam said.

"On one of the smaller islands in Hawaii," Tim replied.

"Oh um…" Amanda stopped. Blushing and turning away.

"Hadrian and I would be happy to give you the flights as a wedding present if that is the issue," Tim said gently.

"Seriously!" Amanda exclaimed.

"It's too much," Sam protested.

"It really isn't. I could almost buy them with my frequent flyer points if it makes you feel any better," Tim lied.

A/N: Thank you to KEZZ 1, veyronking995, Kourtney Uzu Yato, rmiser1994, SpiritBlackPaw, aisa.32, Fyreheart, sandipi, Sakihinata, raysterek92, xDarklightx, Reader Ethiriel, Melikalilly, mother oracle, caged21hearts, lia, lilly-flower15, fandomsneverdie, charm13insomnia, knuckles 8, Sakya, Guest, Rainbow2007, DarkRavie, Millie07, Rori Potter, buterflypuss, Village-Mystic, dalynch81, The View From Up Here, Chezakeeba, delia cerrano, mooneysfate, acherongoddess, luramos, DS2010, Guest, Harriverse, Silvermane1, Firehedgehog, Fallow55, mayawene, staar, lillisa34, serenityselena, Rebecca, siobhan.22, Guest, Erimenthe, natztash, Locket1, fancyspinner, Kittens Kat, 16, Beth9891, Parafet, Breezabee10, Millie072, bethb1973, ellainaparker, kurotenshi-08, CiernyDae and all those who followed and favourited for your support.


	84. Chapter 84

**Chapter 84**

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or NCIS or any of their characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do **NOT** give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

Teddy came running out while Hadrian was finishing decorating the hallway after seeing Tim off to work. They'd been back from Thanksgiving for about a week and other than the tree which they'd get a real one next week, this was the last of the decorating.

"Papa Papa," Teddy yelled in a panic.

"Stay back from the ladder, I'm coming down," Hadrian said, wishing he'd saved this particular job for when Heather was out of the house so he could've used magic to get the tinsel up to the high ceiling.

"Grandma Heather saw Rosie make her dolly come to her with magic," Teddy whispered.

"Do you think she noticed?" Hadrian asked. They'd had several near calls where Hadrian didn't truly understand how Heather hadn't noticed accidental magic occurring in her presence so Tim and Hadrian were starting to relax a little about whether they'd get through the visit without one of the children shocking her.

"Her eyes got big and scared and she frowned at the dolly. Now she looks like she wants to get up and she wants to stay sitting all at once," Teddy reported.

Hadrian laughed weakly at Teddy's description. "I'll talk to her. It will be alright Teddy," he said hugging his son reassuringly. "You go on upstairs and I'll call you when lunch is ready."

-o0o-

Heather watched nervously as Hadrian sought her out. She knew that Teddy would have told his father what Rosie had done and hoped to be able to calm the young man down enough to explain that just because Rosie could do something he'd previously thought was impossible didn't make her evil or dangerous.

"Teddy told me that you saw Rosie perform magic," Hadrian said calmly sitting in front of her and hoping he wouldn't have to obliviate his mother-in-law.

"She wasn't a doing anything that was dangerous to anyone. She just wanted her dolly," Heather exclaimed hurriedly.

"Yes she has pretty good control for a two year old, and the house is well warded to prevent her summoning people, the furniture or anything heavy enough to seriously hurt her or anybody else, and against more violent outbursts of magic. The rooms are warded to slow down the flight of small items like her dolly and toys too, so you're not likely to be hit too hard in the back of the head if it happens while you're around again," Hadrian agreed calmly.

"You knew she had magic?" Heather asked, surprised. "You're awfully calm about it. And what do you mean by the house is warded?"

"Yes, I've always known she would probably have magic. Warding is a form of magical protection on a place or object," Hadrian agreed.

"So, she is Tim's daughter?" Heather asked more confirming her belief than in curiosity.

"Is this why you have been so insistent on knowing who Rosie's and Daisy's biological father is? You were afraid they would inherit magic from Tim and that I'd reject them for it?" Hadrian asked, frowning in confusion.

"Thomas and I were frightened when Tim started performing magic, we didn't know what it was and it was so violent at times. We found out there's a whole world out there of people who can do magic. It's rare but it isn't so unusual. Tim doesn't know this, but he was a wizard. People came and spoke to us about it when he was seven, wanting him to go to their magic school. The Admiral, well he was the Commander then, demanded that they take his magic away because he wanted him to join the Navy. I agreed because he was so insistent and I didn't think it mattered, and I'll admit I was a little afraid of what magic could do, it seemed to be getting stronger as he got older. Tim didn't want them to take his magic away but the people from the school said he wouldn't remember anything about their visit or our decision, he wouldn't remember having magic at all so he'd be fine, he'd be a normal boy. They were right that he didn't seem to remember, but once they took his magic away Tim became much quieter and generally less happy or content, and he started to spend more time by himself. Please don't do the same to Rosie. Her magic won't hurt her or you, there's no need to be afraid of it," Heather begged, nearly in tears as she remembered the look of confusion and hurt in her son's eyes as he tried to process a sense of loss he didn't even really remember or understand.

"I would never bind any child's magic, there's a lot of safer ways of dealing with it, the whole house is warded against violent and destructive magic, but you didn't answer my question," Hadrian replied.

"Yes, I was afraid one of the children would do magic and seeing it would remind Tim that he used to be able to do it too, then when the education people came he would know what we did to him," Heather admitted tearfully.

Hadrian sighed. "Tim already knows what you and the Admiral did when he was seven. He has forgiven you, though he would never agree to letting anyone do that to his children," he admitted.

"He's remembered that he used to be a wizard or did someone tell him? But does he remember how it felt after they took his magic?" Heather asked.

"Tim is still a wizard, taking away his magic would have killed him, the officials that visited you just bound it so he can't access it. They should have explained that to you. Personally, I think it is a monstrous thing to do to any child and I'm extremely relieved that it is illegal in most of the rest of the world," Hadrian replied. "The wizards who did it kept their word, Tim doesn't actually remember using magic but he has described to me the feelings of loss he had when he was eight, he said it was as if he'd gone blind and deaf but could still see and hear though nothing looked or sounded or smelt or felt the same, that he felt all the time like something important was missing, like he'd lost a limb and had no idea why he felt that way. He also felt like there was a barrier between him and the rest of the world and he felt he had to keep his thoughts and feelings inside to protect himself, that he no longer knew who he could trust."

"I didn't know it would hurt him like that. They said that he'd be perfectly fine. But what was I supposed to do? It couldn't be undone, there was nothing I could do. I tried to make it up to him. Give him more time and attention, I let him skip another grade at school when he wanted to while Tom was deployed even though I knew he wouldn't approve," Heather said sadly.

"They were supposed to have told you that it is possible to undo the binding, but it's not that simple anymore. It could have been easily undone within the first year, possibly for a couple of months more than that but the magical channels slowly atrophy and reflooding them with magic after too long has passed causes agonizing pain. There's recently been a ritual found that enables people that have their magic bound for longer to heal their channels and slowly unbind their magic without going mad from the pain of having magic flowing through atrophied magical channels, but it's still too late for Tim. It could be done, but he'd have to sacrifice too much of who he is now to do it. The likelihood of him ever learning to control it well enough to continue working with computers or in a high stress environment like law enforcement would be negligible and he didn't want to give up his career to essentially go back to high school just to have access to his magic. He's decided that it isn't worth it," Hadrian replied quietly.

"How long has he known?" Heather asked anxiously.

"Since about six months before Rosie was born," Hadrian said, though he didn't explain how they' found out that Tim had to be a wizard.

"You know an awful lot about it. How did Tim find out he was a wizard anyway?" Heather asked suspiciously.

"Because I'm a wizard, and so is Teddy," Hadrian admitted.

"But if Tim's magic was bound, how would you know?" Heather asked.

"Like I said Tim is still a wizard, they only bound the magic so it cannot be accessed to use, but every cell of his body still contains wizard DNA and that makes him different from a mundane in several ways, I noticed that he wasn't affected my muggle or nonmagical people repelling wards that I was using in my apartment to prevent people from seeing my magical items, and there's some other ways he doesn't react like a nonmagical," Hadrian explained. "Once I realized he was more than a squib but didn't have active useable magic, I asked my colleagues about how that could happen and found out about the American policy of giving the parents of first generation witches and wizards the choice of binding their children's magic rather than sending them to school to learn to control it. I couldn't get confirmation that his magic was bound but I found that a healer can, so I asked my healer to check because bound or not because his magic would still be present which means magical healing and potions will work for him, which they don't work on a muggle. The healer managed to confirm it and I supplied Tim with some potions which have helped keep him alive and heal more quickly with less residual scar tissue and ongoing effects when he's been injured in the field."

"They don't bind children's magic in Britain?" Heather asked.

"No, in Britain only the incurably criminally insane can legally have their magic bound like that against their will and neither a child nor their parents can choose to have it done. Instead parents of magical children will be spelled to make them accepting of the magic in their child," Hadrian said.

"But what happens to the children who don't want magic, or the children whose parents can't accept that their child is a wizard?" Heather asked.

"There aren't any children who don't want magic, I met with several of the wizards who conduct those 'introduction to the wizarding world' visits and they all tell me they have never met or even heard of a child who didn't want to have magic even those that live in areas where they'd have to board at the magical school, it's always the parents' decision to bind the child's magic. In Britain, parents aren't told until the child is eleven and then the children spend nine months of every year at school. Some students like my friend Hermione spend their summer's visiting friends and only spend a couple of weeks a year at home," Hadrian said. "It isn't foolproof of course. My relatives knew that I'd have magic because my parents both did and they tried to beat and starve the magic out of me instead, which to be honest, as unpleasant as it was probably did me less harm than trying to bind my magic," Hadrian said bluntly.

Heather paled, "Do you really believe that?" she asked faintly.

"Perhaps not if I was a normal wizard but I was the number one target of a terrorist leader, my magic saved my life several times. My magic also rescued me from a loveless and friendless life with my relatives at eleven. Magic is part of who I am and part of my heritage," Hadrian said.

"I've never seen you perform magic," Heather commented.

"I try not to show it in front of no-mages who aren't supposed to know, and Tim and I didn't know whether you'd been allowed to keep your memories of him having magic as a child. But I perform magic every hour of the day, it's part of my life in every way, I am a wizard in every cell of my body," Hadrian said. "That's what you didn't realize when you agreed to let them bind Tim's magic, you were taking away part of who he was."

Heather looked devastated and Hadrian felt slightly guilty for harping on it the way he had but just the thought of someone taking away his children's magic made him feel violated on their behalf, he could not understand how anyone could do it to their own child.

"Do you think the fact Tim had magic was what drew you to him when you met?" Heather asked curiously. "Is magic attracted to magic?"

"No, I know a lot of witches and wizards. I went to a magical boarding school and lived almost entirely in the magical world after the war ended until I moved to America, I've never found magical people to be more or less attractive or romantically interesting than nonmagical people. Most magical people in Britain will marry another magical person because their society is so isolated they don't know any non magical people and it's hard to date someone when you have to hide such a large part of yourself. I've dated magical people and never felt a tenth of the attraction that I feel for Tim. When we first met, I honestly was pleased to be talking to someone who lived outside the magical world. Well they refer to it as a world but to outsiders the correct term is probably an enclave, most of them have no idea how much bigger the non magical world is both in population and in vision. Tim was polite and supportive when I was anxious about leaving the country, and we just hit it off. He helped me find a place to stay and we became friends. We didn't start dating until several months later," Hadrian said. "We'd been dating several months before I began to suspect he was magical."

"Are all wizards bisexual?" Heather asked, curiously.

"You can't blame his attraction to me on my magic so you want to blame his sexual orientation on his magic?" Hadrian asked cynically. "I'm afraid that just won't wash either, the percentage of magicals who are bisexual or homosexual is probably about the same as the rest of the world. In fact, the majority of the British Wizarding World is almost as bigoted about homosexuality as the Admiral. Bigotry taught everywhere from the cradle to the only school, open homosexuality is almost unheard of though I'm sure it still happens in secret. Half the society still practices arranged marriages, with magically enforced vows of protection and fidelity sometimes from the date of the betrothal agreement before the child can even talk let alone express a sexual orientation, there's no way out for the poor sods. Which is one of the reasons why Tim and I have no plans to ever live over there."

"So the majority of your old friends don't accept your relationship? Are you okay with that?" Heather asked concerned.

"No but the one's who matter do. It was a struggle at first to get them to understand it, most of them hadn't ever met an openly homosexual couple, but in the end my happiness was more important to them than the prejudices they'd been brought up with, and the fact that we are magically married helps too because magic wouldn't have married us if homosexuality was a crime against magic. The war has proved a lot of their old ways and beliefs wrong so my generation are more open minded and being involved in fighting two wars in their generation, very few of my parents' friends have survived," Hadrian said seriously. "But we've got a long way off the topic I came to talk to you about. Are you okay with Rosie and Daisy being witches?"

"Daisy too?" Heather exclaimed.

"Yes, and I'm glad she is. It would be very difficult to grow up being the only one in the family without magic," Hadrian said gently. "It's hard enough for Tim as an adult."

"Yes. You're right," Heather agreed. "So they will go to magical school?"

"Teddy will start next year. Thankfully the American school in Salem isn't a boarding school, with magical travel he can come home every night," Hadrian replied.

"Will he still get into college?" Heather asked.

"If he wants to go, yes. He could even go to Annapolis if that's what he wants. The Salem Academy has a very good reputation in the nonmagical world as well, Tim could easily have gone to magical school and still joined the navy if he wanted to," Hadrian replied.

"So we injured him so badly for nothing?" Heather said hopelessly.

Hadrian kindly didn't answer, "Are you okay with your Grandchildren being magical?" he asked again.

"Yes I am, I am a little nervous of what they could accidentally do but I know that none of them would deliberately hurt anyone," Heather said honestly.

"Magical accidents are usually fairly easily reversed. They don't really have the power to do anything permanent at their ages and by the time they do they should also have enough control not to have accidental outbursts, and the house itself limits their magical accidents," Hadrian reassured her.

Heather tried to smile but Hadrian could see she was still anxious. He didn't know what else he could tell her that would help though.

"Have you told anyone else about seeing Rosie do magic?" Hadrian asked.

"No but Barbara was there when it happened. She looked slightly scared by it," Heather replied.

"She wasn't scared by the magic itself, she's seen it often enough. She was probably worried about your reaction, Barbara is a witch and she's known Rosie has been doing magic for several months now, she also knows about you and the Admiral having Tim's magic bound when he was a child" Hadrian replied. "But the reason I asked is that the wizarding world must be kept secret from the rest of the world. It's an international law. You mustn't tell anyone outside of the house. Not even Sarah. In fact given her chosen profession and her blogging habits, especially not Sarah. I'm surprised that you were allowed to remember Tim having magic as a kid."

"I never told anyone about that until you told me you knew about Rosie had magic, I don't know why I never told Penny or Mom about it, I never intended to keep it a secret from them. They were both worried about Tim and asked what had happened and I still couldn't tell them," Heather said sounding surprised.

"You were spelled not to be able to talk about it," Hadrian realized.

"They can do that?" Heather asked horrified. "They can stop me talking about something and can make me forget? They're allowed to do that to me?"

"There are spells that can do both those things. They are restricted in their use but to protect the statute of secrecy both are regularly used," Hadrian said gently. "You knew that they had spells to make people forget things. How else could you explain them making Tim forget that he used to be able to do magic?"

"I thought it was just a side effect of having the magic taken away that he wouldn't remember it. I also thought that it was a good thing that he wouldn't remember since he couldn't do it anymore and I didn't want him to resent us for agreeing to them doing it, but I never imagined that they made him forget on purpose. Why is it so important that they'd use spells to make sure I didn't talk about it? Nobody would've believed me anyway, not once Tim didn't have magic anymore," Heather asked.

"The Statute of Secrecy was developed in response to the persecution and burning of witches across Europe, the Catholics and several other Christian religions were aiming to commit wholesale genocide. Throughout history people have been afraid of what they don't understand and truly there is a lot of possibilities for dishonesty using magic against non-magicals. The need to keep the worlds apart prevents a lot of that and avoids mass panic leading to another attempt at genocide," Hadrian attempted to explain. "They may also have done it to protect you and the Admiral from being committed as being delusional."

"You think that will still happen in today's age?" Heather asked.

"I'm living proof it would. My Aunt and Uncle nearly killed me trying to prevent me from being magical. In fact, if my magic wasn't stronger than average and able to sustain and heal me they would undoubtably have succeeded. People are afraid of what's different and you have to admit that racism and bigotry are unfortunately still real issues in this world. Add to that the scientists never ending need to discover why, and I'm genuinely afraid what would happen to my family and my world if the truth became widely known," Hadrian said seriously. "Perhaps one day it might be safe for the nonmagical population to know about us, but that day is still a very long way away, possibly centuries. Most of society has begun to change since Hitler and his gas chambers but you only have to look at the subjugation of women in many middle eastern countries to know that equality for all is still beyond our reach."

"So is there a whole hidden society?" Heather asked curiously. "They didn't really explain that to us when Tim was little."

"There is in Britain. They've cut themselves off completely from the nonmagical world centuries ago. They have their own government, schools, hospitals, banks, police force and all. There are witches and wizards who are decades older than me in Britain that have never met anyone without magic they're that isolated. But here in America most of us live among everyone else, it's only magic itself and magical things that are kept secret, we still have our own schools and our own law enforcement, healers, hospitals and shopping districts, but we also fit into the normal world, many witches and wizards have a nonmagical college education, work in nonmagical jobs, send their children to nonmagical schools until they're old enough for magical schooling, and live in among nonmagical people without any of their friends realizing there is something different about them, though there are a few wizarding only towns up in the mountains of Colorado, and one out in the Nevada desert," Hadrian said.

"Which is better?" Heather asked.

"I don't know. We live in the nonmagical world here because that's where Tim's job and life is, and the magical forms of heating, cooking and lighting take active magic to control so Tim cannot do even simple things like turn out the light on his own in magical Britain. We try to keep visible magic hidden to the private rooms of the house, and the kitchen and the house is warded to make people less likely to notice. You only noticed Rosie perform magic because you knew about it already. There are lots of advantages for all of us living here but the risk of Rosie or Teddy performing accidental magic out in public and giving us away is constant, and Teddy needs to be medicated to stop his hair changing colour with his moods, it's a unique magical gift he inherited from his mother. We have to be alert to the risk every moment. Even the wards that keep us safe contain some risk of exposure. Anyone intending us harm has trouble finding the house or remembering what they're looking for, which is one of the reasons it's important that the Admiral never tries to come here. He won't be able to find the place unless you're driving him, and his reason for coming is likely to be enough to make him notice the problem and he might take it out on you or Sarah. This house won't burn if someone tried to set it on fire, and it would be much more difficult to attack physically or magically than any normal property, the wood and the paint won't be damaged by termites or the weather, the windows are less breakable than bullet proof glass. There are similar wards covering the school too. Eventually someone is going to notice the curious lack of playground accidents and bullying, or petty theft, or that pedophiles don't feel comfortable hanging around nearby and teachers who are willing to hurt children don't want to work there."

Heather laughed. "Did you do that? Is it legal?" she asked.

"I did it, and it's not really legal but not specifically all that illegal either the way I did it. I'm not allowed to ward buildings I don't own and the education department wouldn't sell me the property the school occupies even if I signed over a 200 year lease for them to rent it back at $1 per year, so I purchased and warded as many of the houses around the school as I could and over warded them so the wards overlapped the schoolyard and some of the outer classrooms, and because you have to get through the warded area to get to the rest of the school it protects the whole school from major threats," Hadrian admitted. He didn't tell her that he'd also been buying up various commercial and residential properties around their part of the town to ward and rent out making their whole neighbourhood safer. Wards that encroached on neighbouring properties were illegal but there weren't many magicals in their area to notice and no Auror was going to prosecute over protective wards as benign as Hadrian's.

"Tell me more about the magical enclaves in Britain. Why you don't want Rosie and Daisy growing up there," Heather asked.

"My best friend in Britain lived in a completely magical home, the only neighbours they knew all had magic so the risks of exposing our world were much less. Everything is done with magic, they didn't have electricity or gas connected to the house and the plumbing was purely magical. They don't have a telephone, or mail delivery or any contact at all with the normal world. They were one of very few wizarding families in Britain to own a car and his father kept it mostly to tinker with and enchant to fly, he only drove it once or twice a year. The children were homeschooled and had no friends other than their brothers and sisters and two neighbouring children and relatives they rarely saw until they went to boarding school at eleven. There were forty children in our year level and my dorm mates Ron and Neville were both related to at least a third of them each. As a kid I thought his home was fantastic but as an adult I can see that Teddy has opportunities here that my friend didn't have and that Teddy, Rosie and Daisy certainly would never have there. Britain is a closed society and extremely old fashioned. Some of it is quaint, quills, rolls of parchment and candles, wood or coal fires. But like any closed society it has its own prejudices. Homophobia for one, and superstition. Teddy's father had an illness that they believed made him cursed. Teddy did not inherit it but he's still looked on with suspicion by most people in Britain. It's also a society very rigidly separated into classes. It matters more who your grandparents and great-grandparents were than what you are capable of."

"So, if your great grandfather was a thief then you'd never be trusted?" Heather asked.

"No! If your great grandfather had been caught stealing from the bank, you, your children and grandchildren would be considered dishonorable by the goblins and not be allowed to enter their bank, but the general wizarding population wouldn't care much except for his victims unless the family he stole from had the political power to blacken your name, but if your grandfather, or in Rosie's and Daisy's case one grandfather, one grandmother and one great grandmother, didn't have magic you would be considered by some to be a second class citizen and would find your job opportunities limited by that," Hadrian said bluntly. "Here in America, and most of the rest of the world outside of England and Europe, it doesn't matter, magic is magic whether you are a first generation magical or tenth."

"Magic is the reason that you can trace your family back so far and held on to your land throughout all the changes in rulers, isn't it?" Heather asked.

Hadrian smiled. "Yes, Magicals had a written language long before the majority of Europe and preservation charms protect the books and journals from those days from being lost to fire, damp or decay and translation spells to convert the text into modern English. I don't know the details but I assume the wards on the properties would resist changes in ownership like the old wards did on this place for so long even after the previous owners no longer wanted the house, and past Potters probably used wards to stay under the king's notice or for the family members to safely support each side without being caught out," he replied.

"And the titles?" Heather asked.

"I still have several titles in the wizarding world that no longer matter in the nonmagical world but I am officially the Earl of Gryffindor in Great Britain," Hadrian said modestly.

"So does my son have a title?" Heather asked.

Hadrian shook his head. "In the nonmagical world I'm not sure, probably not as the peerage hasn't caught up with the possibility of gay marriage and in the British Wizarding World our marriage probably wouldn't be recognized at all." He grinned wickedly, "If he were a woman he would be a Countess."

Heather laughed almost hysterically.

A/N: Thank you to jilumasam, Silvermane1, acherongoddess, DarkRavie, buterflypuss, knuckles 8, Mfoto, siobhan.22, McPenname, xDarklightx, Millie072, sandipi, Hortensia, aisa.32, lilly-flower15, Kourtney Uzu Yato, Firehedgehog, Greysh, staar, guest, mooneysfate, mayawene, Rainbow2007, Rori Potter, fandomsneverdie, Harriverse, Lady Kaiki, sillygabby, Elpida, DS2010, serenityselena, charm13insomnia, Fallow55, , Ghostisreading, Yuuki Heartfilia-Dragneel, linzi, luramos, Merlenyn, , Serpent91, LeopardIzzy, FanFictionAddict13, Locket1, Erimenthe, 16 and all those who followed and favourited for your support.


	85. Chapter 85

**Chapter 85**

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or NCIS or any of their characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do NOT give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

Your Mom caught Rosie doing magic this morning, summoning her dolly," Hadrian told Tim as he made him a late supper when he returned home at the end of a case. Heather and the children had already gone to bed, leaving them to have the evening to themselves.

"Oh God! You should have called me. I would've come home for that. Did she totally freak out? Is she still here?" Tim asked panicked.

"Yes, she's still here, I think she went to bed early to give us time to talk. She didn't really freak out as such, she didn't even tell me so I'm not entirely sure it was the first time she's noticed it happen," Harry replied.

"If she didn't approach you about it, how did you find out? Did she ask Barbara, please don't tell me she yelled at Rosie or tried to punish her?" Tim begged.

"No she didn't seem angry with Rosie at all more protective of her. Teddy told me about her seeing and noticing the magic. When I went to find her she was just sitting watching Rosie play and staring into space lost in thought. Rosie wasn't upset so she couldn't have said anything to her," Hadrian replied reassuringly.

"So what happened. Did you tell her you knew she'd seen the magic?" Tim asked.

"I told her. Your Mom was a little frightened but not so much by Rosie but more about how we'd react to finding out about it, than of Rosie or the magic. She remembers what happened to you and the way you changed after your magic was bound and she regrets agreeing to allowing your magic to be taken from you more than she could say, she was spelled not to be able to talk about it to anyone unless they knew about the magical world and I guess after all these years of not being able to tell anybody she didn't realise she could have told us if she'd tried," Hadrian said softly. "I think this is why she's been demanding to know which of us is Rosie's biological father. I think she was worried about Rosie inheriting magic from you and having it bound like you did. She begged me not to let that happen to Rosie or Daisy. I had to agree I wouldn't more than once before she calmed down."

"But she let them bind my magic," Tim reminded him.

"Yes, and she's regretted allowing them to do it ever since," Hadrian agreed sighing. "She told me about the day it happened and the months afterwards. It was the Admiral who insisted on having your magic bound so you could stay in mainstream education and prep for Annapolis. She went along with it because she didn't think it would matter, they were told by the officials that you wouldn't remember having magic and wouldn't miss it at all, she was shocked and upset that after the binding you withdrew and seemed sad all the time. She said she regretted doing it but she didn't know that there was a possibility of reversing the process. She thought they actually took the magic from you, not just bound it so you couldn't access it," Hadrian said.

"I thought they were supposed to tell parents about it being reversable for the first twelve months and give them a way to contact them if they want it unbound?" Tim said questioningly.

"They are," Hadrian agreed. "I don't know why your parents didn't know that. I can look into it if you want me to."

"Or maybe the Admiral did know the truth, but she believed him when he said that it couldn't be reversed," Tim said cynically.

Hadrian didn't say anything, he thought that Tim's speculation was entirely possible. He really would like to sit the man down and force Veritaserum down his throat to find out what the man had been thinking and how he justified treating his son the way he did.

"Do you really think that magic was the reason Mom cared so much who fathered Rosie and Daisy? That she didn't actually care about passing on her genes or being genetically related to the kids and she was just worried that they'd inherit magic like me and we'd make the same mistake that she and the Admiral did?" Tim asked.

Hadrian nodded thoughtfully.

"You really believe that she doesn't really care anymore about whether they're biologically her granddaughters?" Tim asked skeptically.

"When she saw Rosie summon her dolly she assumed that she was your daughter and that I'd be frightened about the magic. But once I told her I was a wizard too, she didn't ask about paternity again, nor did she seem disappointed that Rosie's magic didn't automatically mean she was biologically yours," Hadrian said nodding. "She really does seem to care about them and I've been watching her with them closely since she got here, she doesn't seem to favour the girls over Teddy and she knows that he can't be biologically your son."

"Do you think we should tell her the truth? That the girls are both yours and mine?" Tim asked uncertainly.

"Not yet, I don't think she'd believe us if we did. I think accepting simple magic is one thing and accepting the idea of men falling pregnant is probably a step too far for her at the moment," Hadrian said. "At least wait until she's had a lot more exposure to magic. Maybe if she visits while I'm pregnant next time we could tell her then."

"Yes, then we would have proof if she didn't believe us, but do you really think she'd visit us again once the Admiral isn't regularly deployed anymore?" Tim asked cynically.

"I don't know?" Hadrian said gently. "But I do know she will want to. The question is not just whether she has the courage to stand up to your father though, she might decide that it's safer for us and the children if she doesn't provoke the Admiral like that."

Tim sighed. "You're right, and we'll never know exactly why she stopped visiting or keeping in contact with us," he admitted.

"I could use Legilimency or Veritaserum to find out what she's really thinking but it wouldn't be ethical," Hadrian replied.

"No, I wouldn't want to invade her privacy and break her trust like that," Tim agreed sighing. "As much as I'm going to hate not knowing I would hate that more."

"I understand," Hadrian said leaning over and kissing his husband. "You're a good man Timothy McGee-Potter-Black."

-o0o-

Hadrian approached Tim about his mother the next night. He didn't want to interfere but he could see how unhappy and nervous his mother-in-law was waiting for Tim to yell at her. The elves had told him that Heather had packed all her things the day before and was now living out of her suitcases as if she expected to be asked to leave.

"Your Mom is feeling pretty guilty about binding your magic as a kid. I told her that you've forgiven her for doing it but you might want to talk to her about it, she still feels badly," Hadrian said.

"I'll talk to her tomorrow if I get home at a decent time," Tim said.

"We could use the time turner to take a day if you wanted to. Go to Boston for the day and then you could come home and talk to Heather," Hadrian offered.

"And what will you do? Spend the evening hiding out in the spare room?" Tim asked.

"I thought I could take a healthy meal in for the team and encourage them to take ten minutes to eat properly," Hadrian mentioned.

"Better make it something we can eat with one hand while we work," Tim said cynically.

"Or we could retire to the bedroom and have a threesome," Hadrian suggested cheekily.

Tim laughed. "I don't think I could handle two of you," he said pulling his husband in and kissing him deeply. "Besides isn't there a reason we've always gone out of our way not to see our alternate selves? Or were you teasing?"

"I was mostly teasing. There can be danger if you come across yourself unexpectedly, especially if you don't know that you were planning on using a time turner. Also, some people can be stressed out by seeing a situation from two different perspectives and worry about making sure they try to say and do exactly what they saw their future self say and do the first time through," Hadrian replied.

"I think it's too much of a risk," Tim said. "As interesting as a threesome might be, I don't want to risk your sanity for some kinky sex."

"Okay then I'll risk Gibbs' wrath by bringing dinner for the team," Hadrian replied, neither upset nor surprised that Tim hadn't wanted to take the risk.

-o0o-

After Hadrian's discussion with Heather, Hadrian and Barbara stopped trying to hide their magic use from her and she realised exactly how much magic could do and what she and the Admiral had deprived Tim of and she wondered how Tim could forgive her so easily when he was constantly surrounded by the magic he should've been able to do and couldn't because of her.

The casual way Barbara changed the colours of clothing to what the children wanted. Hadrian setting the dishes to wash themselves as he levitated the plates out to the dining table, or transfigured what he needed and fixed broken items or expanded a bag to fit in an entire picnic including the picnic rug, was just a beginning. Hadrian's friend Neville popped over from England for the afternoon to discuss something with Hadrian and used his magic to resuscitate a neglected houseplant while Hadrian laughed at him for his gift in plant magic.

-o0o-

Tim came home early, thanks to the timetuner, and she burst into tears as soon as he greeted her.

"What's wrong Mom?" Tim asked.

"I took so much from you. How can you ever forgive me?" Heather replied.

"I forgave you a long time ago. I've known for years that you and the Admiral made the decision to have my magic bound. I remember how it felt and I remember the sense of betrayal I felt when I found out you and the Admiral had given them permission to do that to me. But I also know that once the Admiral had made his decision you felt you couldn't argue against him, and that he wouldn't have listened if you had objected. I don't think there was much you could have done," Tim said gently. He didn't know what would have happened if one parent insisted on their child's magic being bound and the other objected. He knew there must be a protocol for it but he didn't think he wanted to find out what it was.

"Do you ever think about what might have been if we hadn't done that to you?" Heather asked hesitantly.

"You can't live your life playing the what if game, Mom. If I hadn't had my magic bound I would've gone to magic school, I might not have gone to MIT or Johns Hopkins and made the friends I did, I might not have joined NCIS and had a team as close to a family as anything any of us have. Who knows I might even have joined the Navy," Tim said lightly.

"What about your seasickness?" Heather asked.

"The seasickness is probably a side effect of the binding on my magical core. Remember how Dad thought I was faking it because I didn't have it when I was younger," Tim replied. He chuckled a little. "Ironic isn't it. He wanted me to join the Navy so badly and in the end, it was his trying to make sure I did that made it impossible for me to serve aboard a ship."

Heather laughed though she didn't sound happy or amused.

"The thing is I also probably wouldn't have written Deep Six and therefore not gone to England for the book's release there. The chances I would still have been on the plane that day to meet Hadrian would've been less than a million to one. So many things would've changed that I can't imagine what my life would've been like with magic but I wouldn't want magic instead of Hadrian and our family," Tim replied. "It would be easy to blame you for everything that went wrong in my life after my magic was bound. For attending all those different schools and having to work so hard to catch up with the new school's requirements, for being bullied at school, for the seasickness, for Dad's attitude, but in general I'm happy with my life and there's no way to know whether things would've been better if I had gone to Salem Academy of Magic."

"Would it be easier to be married to someone who doesn't have magic and not be surrounded by it all the time?" Heather asked hesitantly.

"I wouldn't trade being married to Hadrian for anything in the world! Besides, even with my magic bound I can pass it on, my children would probably still have had magic. At least Hadrian and Barbara can fix things if the children's magic gets out of their control," Tim said mildly. "It was my decision not to try to have my magic released, Mom. The ritual to do it was approved for use about eight months ago now and I've known about the research into it for several months before that. I was one of the first people it was offered to. Hadrian was really supportive that it was my decision to make, he hasn't pressured me at all in either direction."

"Hadrian explained that you would have to give up too much," Heather said sadly. "You shouldn't have been in a position to have to make that choice. I'm so sorry."

"It's okay Mom, I get all the benefits of Hadrian's magic and still get to do the work I love. I'm happy with my choice and I can always change my mind if that changes, maybe when I retire. The side effects of having my magic unblocked won't get any worse than they are now," Tim said comfortingly. "But don't be surprised if I never want to. I'm satisfied with the way things are now."

"Do you wish we hadn't had your magic bound?" Heather asked.

"I wish I'd remembered what happened and you explained why I was feeling the way I was. And I wish you had known that the binding could be removed without harm for the first six to eight months and with minimal need for medical intervention and extra training for at least six months after that," Tim said. He was disappointed in himself to realise that he was treating her like a suspect, watching to see if what he said genuinely surprised her, trying to catch her in a lie. Luckily her shock looked genuine to him.

"They said it was irreversible!" she exclaimed, tears running down her face.

"You heard them say it yourself, or the Admiral told you they had said that?" Tim asked suspiciously.

Heather paled. "Your father told me. I was distracted looking after you after they'd done it and they spoke to your father as he showed them out. I wanted to call them back and ask if there was anything to be done after the first two weeks when you didn't seem to be recovering from the shock like they said you would. To ask if anything was wrong and he told me he was sorry but there was nothing they could do we'd just have to wait for you to get better. He reassured me that they said you'd be fine once you got over the shock but I never thought it would take as long as it did," she admitted.

"The Admiral lied to you. The law says that they have to tell families about the possibilities of having the bindings removed as well as the dangers of trying to get it removed after the time period has passed, it's too important for them not to have told you and either provided you the information in writing or spelled you to remember that as well," Tim said gently but with no room for doubt.

"What dangers? You said it would be safe to release your magic if you wanted to do it," Heather said alarmed.

"There is a way to do it safely now, but until the unbinding and channel repair rituals were found recently, it was impossible to release the magic once the magical channels in the body had atrophied and when they'd tried the people they were trying to help died in agony. Even if they managed to rebind their magic before it killed them, they were never the same, they were often driven insane from the pain and the residual burning sensation never fully went away. Even now there's a gap in time where a child's magic cannot be unbound before they're old enough to participate in the ritual."

"Why?" Heather asked.

"Ritual magic is very different from spell magic, participants need to be adults to understand the implications," Tim said blushing.

"Like what?"

Tim wanted to ignore her but knew if he didn't answer she would ask Hadrian and that would be even more awkward. "It's a sex ritual," he said. "Other darker rituals can require bloodletting or sacrifice or virginity, this one just requires being penetrated during the ritual by an expert in ritual magic."

"You're telling me, you'd have to have sex with someone other than Hadrian? And he's okay with you doing it? Is this why you've chosen not to?" Heather asked.

"No. One of Hadrian's school friends found the ritual in the old archives in the British Ministry of Magic. They don't bind children's magic so they haven't had a use for it in centuries and the knowledge was lost. She was looking for it specifically for my sake, though Hadrian hadn't asked her to or even mentioned wishing he could unbind my magic. She has nonmagical parents herself and it horrified her that if they were American her parents might have bound her magic too. Hadrian has the ability to learn this ritual and he will if I decide to do it," Tim replied. "The problem is that most teenagers with their magic bound don't have magical friends and Hadrian said he doubted that there will be more than two or three wizards willing to perform this ritual for a teenager they're not related to or involved with, and most teenagers don't have the control themselves to do it no matter how good they are at runes or how much they might care for the person whose magic needs releasing," Tim said. "It's a wretched solution all around. The only good thing about it is the horror of the situation and the number of teenagers willing to be fucked by a stranger at least twenty years and up to one hundred years older than they are and to pay exorbitant amounts to have their magic unbound not to mention the potential for abuse of people who think they can cast the ritual just from experiencing it themselves and end up blowing themselves and their victims up, might make the ministry think twice about the policy to continue to bind children's magic in the first place."

"You seem very calm about the idea of participating in a sex ritual. What would be involved? Have you ever participated in a sex ritual with Hadrian?" she asked.

"Our marriage bonding was a sex ritual," Tim replied.

Heather looked shocked, "That's not what Sarah said when she described the ceremony," Heather said. They had never got around to actually viewing the wedding though they had discussed it.

"No, Sarah attended the public ceremony to be legally married in the nonmagical world. Our actual bonding was the week before without witnesses. Sex rituals are pretty much what you think, having sex while completing vows or spell chants inside a ritual circle made of runes," Tim explained. "Nothing particularly kinky or exotic about it, rune circles can be drawn or carved on any flat surface, they don't need to be outside during a full moon or anything like that. There's no good reason we couldn't have used the children's playroom or even our bedroom if we were willing to pull up the carpet for the night or clean the magical chalk out of it afterwards. The only truly objectional part of using this ritual to unbind the magic of everyone who wants it done is that there aren't that many wizards with the skills needed to learn to do it safely and with the number of people who have had their magic bound they would need to virtually prostitute themselves out to perform it for everyone and the risk of exploitation because they could charge whatever they wanted."

"You said Hadrian has the skills to do this, and he hates the idea of children having their magic bound," Heather said worriedly.

"He does but our marriage bond makes it totally impossible for him to offer to unbind anyone else's magic, we both made a vow of total fidelity," Tim replied calmly. "I expect he will offer to help fund the unbinding rituals for those who want it and cannot afford to pay themselves, so long as the fees are reasonable."

"You're saying that you cannot have sex with another man or woman ever?" Heather asked.

"That's right, I can't even seriously think about wanting to, not as long as we both live, but then I couldn't imagine wanting anyone other than Hadrian for the rest of my life even before we married," Tim replied.

Heather didn't know what to say. Any comment she made would sound trite or condescending but she was in shock at the level of commitment the two men had willingly made, but she did still have one worry.

"Did Hadrian know you were a wizard before you got engaged?" she asked.

Tim sighed. He knew him being a wizard hadn't been the reason Hadrian was willing to marry him but explaining it was difficult without either lying or telling his mother that they'd found out about his magic because he'd gotten Hadrian pregnant. "We had discussed it, and discussed having a child but then everything happened at once. Teddy's grandmother died and that brought everything into sharper focus. Hadrian needed a bigger place to live and he wanted me to move in with him and Teddy, and the opportunity came up for us to have Rosie and we decided to be a family. Permanence was important to Harry so we decided to get married and of course the ritual couldn't be done if I didn't have magic so Hadrian was glad when he realized I was a wizard and he was initially glad that I hadn't known about it and not just kept it from him," Tim said.

"That's a bit hypocritical of him, isn't it?" Heather snarked.

"Hadrian is probably the most famous wizard in the world. If I had gone to a magical school, I would have known who he was the moment we met, so I wouldn't just be hiding the fact I was a wizard but that I knew he was too and I knew he was rich, titled and famous. He's had people wanting to befriend him because of those things in the past. Believing I was nonmagical was one of the reasons he trusted me at first," Tim explained.

"So, you and Hadrian cant cheat or even be with someone else with permission, what other limits did the ritual place on the two of you?" Heather asked.

"Nothing that truly limits or changes our behaviour or our relationship from what it was before. We used the same vows for our public wedding as we did in the ritual so you can hear them for yourself but basically we vowed to love and respect each other to confide in each other and to listen with an open heart to what the other has to say and to share our lives together both as a romantic couple and as best friends," Tim replied. "I'll ask Hadrian to set the Pensieve up for you tonight.

-o0o-

Heather came out of the Pensieve with tears in her eyes. "It was just beautiful, and it felt like I was there," she said. "The vows were lovely."

"Thanks Mom," Tim said smiling from where he and Hadrian were sitting holding one another, they'd gone in to the memory with Heather and were feeling quite emotional having re-experienced their wedding.

"Where was it? It was a beautiful location," Heather asked.

"One of my distant uncles left me a house not far outside Boston. We would have liked to me married here but at the time Massachusetts was the only state to legalize same sex marriage," Hadrian said.

"Do you still own the house?" Heather asked surprised.

"We do though not all of it is liveable, we've considered offering it to provide accommodation to returned vets that are having a rough time getting back on their feet or something but there's some work to be done to get it into shape for that," Hadrian replied. "It's also fairly close to Teddy's new school next year but the elves are capable of bringing him to and from school from here," Hadrian said.

"And the house in Hawaii you offered Amanda and Sam the use of for their honeymoon and the flat in London. You have four houses, or are there more?" Heather said.

"Yes with magic and our house elves, the maintenance is easily done without much effort on our parts, or expense, so keeping the properties isn't a problem. We are slowly renovating the house in Hawaii, but only really the parts of it that we use. This is the only house that is fully renovated. The London house has been divided into flats and most of it rented out. What we have is the original attic space. I also own the original Potter Keep but it's little more than a draughty old ruin."

"Magic didn't maintain it?" Heather asked.

"Magic can only do so much, it's one of the oldest buildings still standing in Britain, parts of it date back to the time stone buildings were first built to replace the wooden buildings used," Hadrian explained.

A/N for thise who want to reread the wedding vows the bonding ritual is chapter 30 and the wedding chapter 35.

A/N2: Thank you to sandipi, Kourtney Uzu Yato, rmiser1994, Locket1, buterflypuss, xDarklightx, Rainbow2007, mooneysfate, jayswing96, Anon, aisa.32, Millie072, delia cerrano, sillygabby, Jules41, charm13insomnia, starie78, Not A Muggle, jilumasam, Fyreheart, Firehedgehog, DarkRavie, Tetradical, lilly-flower15, Lady Kaiki, luramos, Lucky Guard, Rori Potter, Tzapporah, Aladdinina Magi, Melikalilly, knuckles 8, witchboard, StealingATimeLord, daithi4377, DS2010, acherongoddess, Merlenyn, USA-Jeanette, siobhan.22, lizh12795, Ghostisreading, serenityselena, Erimenthe, Silvermane1, Sakihinata, mayawene, fandomsneverdie, Fallow44, Serpent91, crankypants16, madnessdownunder2, The View From Up Here, ToshimiOkami, lia, 777angeloflove, Sucinquee, Lanesra, Beth9891, kydarkangel2007 and all those who followed and favourited for your support.


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